


Fuck you, Merle

by deadblackhearts



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Timeline What Timeline
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2020-12-14 10:26:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21014255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deadblackhearts/pseuds/deadblackhearts
Summary: Daryl didn’t really mind the apocalypse. It was just one more shit in a row and he was a Dixon, Dixons adapt. But waking up alone in a hospital, weak as a kitten and surrounded by the dead? Well that shit ain’t funny, especially when he ended up there thanks to Merle and the bastard was nowhere to be seen. So fuck ya brother, and I hope ta find ya very soon 'cause I’m gonna kick your abandonin' ass.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I actually started writing the sequel for Different results when this idea popped in my head and I felt more comfortable writing this story so I went with it. Have three chapters so far and I know how I want it to end, but no guarantees that I will finish, as always, so sorry in advance.
> 
> As for the timeline, I'm trying to follow the Wiki one but mostly I'm doing my own thing and this time Daryl and Glenn are slightly different, or at least I'm getting that impression when I re-read. The locations are vague in a sense I find things online that I think might fit and somehow rework them into my story. So for example, when I say they're heading north I'm kind of thinking of Blairsville just because of the low population and the proximity to the National Forest. However I won't mention exact locations in the story itself because I might change my mind in the future and I definitely don't know enough about Georgia to be that specific. Other locations also probably won't match canon so be warned. Anyway, it's north and forest and there you go;)
> 
> I have no Beta, English is not my first language and all mistakes are mine (which I'm willing to change if they are not pointed out in an offensive way). The other thing is the southern accent. Don't speak it, not sure I'm writing it right, but it is what it is and I doubt it will get better. I don't own anything related to the shows and my only payment is the eventual ability to sleep once I get the story out of my head. Oh, and praise;) Please comment people, it's a gift that keeps on giving no matter the completion of the story. Thanks

For whatever reason Merle had decided he was sick of all the bars around them and that Friday night they just had to head out to Atlanta. It was a two fucking hour drive and Daryl had no idea how he even got dragged to that shit. A lot of name calling and dares and here was, trying to convince himself he should just get out of the car and follow Merle before he got into more trouble than usual.

“Come on, baby brother, the night’s a wastin’.” Merle called walking backwards.

Daryl just rolled his eyes but got out and locked the truck behind him. He truly didn’t see the point of driving so far just to get drunk, and an Atlanta bar was probably only a bigger dump than he was used to following Merle to.

The inside was smoke filled with some moaning country song playing. He could barely see anyone but caught the vague Merle outline close to the bar, so he joined him, pushing through the intoxicated crowd.

“’Bout time ya came here. What does a brother havta do? Send ya a fucking written invitation or some shit?” Merle bitched as usual at which point Daryl simply grunted. It didn’t matter what he said anyway, Merle would just ignore it.

“There’s some fine ass ‘round, ‘ere, wowee, would ya look at that?” Merle pointed the top of his beer bottle at a blond swinging her hips at a nearby high round table.

Daryl resisted the urge to roll his eyes again. She was such a Merle type of woman with big boobs, tight ass and the shortest possible mini shirt hugging the package.

Daryl on the other hand preferred his partners to be of the same gender as himself, only more clean cut, occasionally nerdy, but always of a slighter build than his work hardened body. Every once in a while a woman caught his eye, but what little interest he’d had in them faded over the years under the exposure of the cheap looking skanks Merle tended to bring home and who more often than not didn’t care how little they wore in the mornings. That is, if they stayed until morning.

Even back then, Daryl’s women tended to have short hair, dressed more casual and were petite, just the right size for him to lift them when they fucked. In any case, not the type of woman he would find in bars Merle favored and Daryl wasn’t crazy enough to hit on a guy in such places.

He couldn’t even remember the last time he’s fucked someone but wasn’t really bothered by it. He’d stopped caring what anyone thought about the time their pa kicked it, and whatever bitching Merle was likely to do about it, passed right over Daryl’s head. If he could handle all the cheap women in his space, so could Merle face the occasional dick, especially when Daryl’s one nighters tended to dress before parading around the house. 

Daryl often wondered what it would be like to have someone for more than one night but always had flashbacks to disaster of a union their parents had and the curiosity would quickly be replaced by cold sweat. Besides, he still hadn’t had a guy stay over who didn’t run in the morning when faced with Merle’s crude type of a wakeup call or introduction.

“Does she have your name on her fuckin’ ass or what?” Merle’s voice cut through the noise and Daryl tuned his gaze toward it.

True enough, there was Merle, facing a guy about his size with the blond he’d been eying gripping the man’s shirt and hiding half behind him.

Daryl got up and crossed the distance quickly, not liking the guy’s friends and all the potential for a fight he saw coming.

Suddenly the guy pushed Merle away, and just knowing what Merle’s reaction to that would be, Daryl inserted himself between them, but he wasn’t quite ready for the gun in the guy’s hand and the way he didn’t even hesitate to shoot before Daryl got the chance to utter a word.

Next thing he knew he was on the filthy ground of that fucking bar he didn’t even want to go to, his chest numb and lights spinning funnily.

“Baby brother, stay with me. It’s just a scratch. Ya hear me, Daryl?” Merle’s voice penetrated through the noise around them. Shit must be serious if it required Daryl’s actual name. Merle never called him by his name.

“Ain’t no one can kill a Dixon but a Dixon, so don’t ya be a pussy and die on me, ya hear?” Merle shouted and that was about the last thing Daryl remembered.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Waking with a gasp and not knowing where the fuck he was, wasn’t the worst situation he’d ever been in, but it came damn close considering his chest ached something fierce and his limbs felt like jelly.

Daryl looked around and figured he was in a hospital. It must have been some serious shit if he’d needed his own room. No Dixon every stayed longer than it took to get stitches. Not that the service seemed to be any better when you got stuck long term. His mouth was like a desert, his lips chapped and he was fucking hungry. Like cramps you wouldn’t believe hungry he last remembered from when he was a kid and his pa didn’t think kids needed to eat every day.

Feeling as if he was twenty years older than his thirty five, Daryl unhooked all the shit that was attached to him and swung his legs to the side trying to stand only for his legs to give up on him. He caught the edge of the bed but his hands shook badly and he couldn’t believe his arm was that skinny. “What the fuck is goin’ on?”

Gritting his teeth he somehow stood up straight and eyed the door to what must have been the bathroom. He was a Dixon, he would be damned if he called a fucking nurse and then had to listen to Merle bitching about him being a baby and needing help to piss.

So Daryl bravely took a shaky step, then another, until he caught the doorknob and just about stayed dangling from it as it swung open carrying him with it inside.

He sat on the toilet actually grateful for the paper dress or whatever it was which pretty much opened right up letting his junk dangle in the bowl.

Pissing like a race horse wasn’t an unfamiliar experience. Doing it while sitting down took some getting used to and Daryl almost thanked whatever gods there were that Merle wasn’t around to see him. He’d be hearing about it until the end of his days.

Daryl took a while to stand up, feeling exhausted just from walking to the bathroom and pissing for fuck sakes. He flushed successfully but once he tried to turn on the water in the sink nothing happened, “Jesus Christ what kind of hospital is this?” He mumbled and caught sight of a half filled bottle of water under the chair next to his bed.

Somehow he came right to it, but the moment he needed to bend over he collapsed, his bare ass colliding with the cold floor and his wound protesting for all it was worth.

He took a moment to acclimate, handle the pain before reaching for the water. Only the second sip actually registered and he moved the bottle away to read “Cactus and lemon flavored vitamin water. What the ever lovin’ fuck?” Daryl gaped at the bottle trying to think of someone he knew who would actually drink that shit and came with a blank.

Grimacing he finished the rest of it and tried his best to ignore the taste before putting the bottle down and eying the bed. He would obviously have to climb back up if he didn’t plan on greeting whatever nurse came to him first, on the floor. Come to think of it, all the shit he had been hooked up to was turned off. That can’t be right.

Hating how weak he was, Daryl did his best to get back to bed. Unfortunately he must have blacked out, because the next time he opened his eyes it was pitch black both outside the room and inside and he’d been lying awkwardly on the bed long enough for his wound to just be a big mass of aching muscles. So he turned, blinked his eyes a few times as if that would magically turn on the light, but that naturally didn’t happen.

“I’m gonna fuckin’ kill ya Merle.” Daryl mumbled and decided to just sleep it off. Apparently even the nurses who didn’t know him or his family thought it wasn’t worth it to take care of a Dixon.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
There was a pigeon on his window for whatever reason. He didn’t much care for pigeons and as soon as a nurse decided to grace him with her presence he would make her chase it away. If only he wasn’t still so fucking thirsty. And hungry. They must serve fucking breakfast in this place.

It was all Merle’s fault anyway, just like everything else that was wrong with Daryl’s life. Merle always had his fingers in it. “Fuck you, Merle.” Daryl said softly, “Couldn’t even visit your own brother. Fuckin’ asshole.”

Time ticked by and while the fucking clock didn’t work in his room just like everything else, he hunted enough in his life to recognize the movement of the sun and realized at least a couple of hours had passed and no one had come to see him. Either this was the shittiest hospital in Atlanta or something was fucking wrong.

He bit his thumbnail then decided there was nothing for it. If they weren’t willing to come to him, he had to get up and find some water on his own. But first he saw a dresser and figured he should check it out. 

Standing up today seemed easier and while he wasn’t all that stable yet, he felt somewhat better. The dresser held clothes, his clothes and his quiver, the biggest one he owned and what looked to be all of his arrows. Daryl looked to the side and there, where the privacy curtain was folded, he could see just the edge of his cross bow and his boots. 

Only Merle could manage to smuggle a crossbow into a hospital. “So ya did come see me, ya bastard.”

Should he get dressed or not? “Fuck it, ‘s not like anyone came ta check on me for two fucking days. Merle might do better than tha’ at home. Should find a fuckin’ phone and hope he ain’t drinkin’ somewhere.”

So Daryl got dressed slowly, took another short nap, put his cross bow across his back and then caught sight of a pack of smokes next to his bed. The thing was empty, which figured if Merle came by, but then he turned the box and there was Merle’s messy scrawl on the side, “Aim for da head.”

“The fuck’s that mean?” Daryl wondered out loud figuring Merle had probably been stoned or drunk and bored out of his mind. He shook his head and opened the door to the hallway.

The last thing he expected was broken glass everywhere, walls riddled with bullet holes and smeared with blood stains. His door was blocked by a medicine cabinet and a couple of overturned gurneys. Must have been what had protected him. But the thing that had him gaping was that everything that had been to the right of the room right next to his had been blown off. Like the whole side of the fucking building was missing. He could see pipes and wires and parts of the rooms and hallways on the two floors below him.

Was that guy eating the dead one down on the street? Daryl squinted. “Fuck me, that’s sick.”

The rest of the town didn’t seem any better. Other buildings were damaged too, that one there looked as if it had burned, and those people walking down there looked dead if anything. “Aim for da head.” Daryl repeated to himself and swung his crossbow around. He bent and tried to load it, but it didn’t seem all that easy as before. He would have to find something else before he builds up some strength in his arms again.

“Looks like the damn apocalypse out there and it ain’t much better in ‘ere.” Daryl turned around to take another look.

What was he supposed to do? Looks like the city was abandoned and he didn’t see one car driving out there. How was he supposed to go back home? Steal one? “Fuckin’ shit Merle, ya just left me in this shit hole?”

“Shit. Best prioritize, Daryl. What do ya need?” He whispered to himself, half freaked out. Was the rest of the world the same? He bit at his cuticle. Was Merle alive? Must be alive. If he’d told me to aim for da head, he must have been doin’ the same. He’s a Dixon. Daryl nodded to himself. “He’s a’right, ain’t nothing can kill that bastard but himself.”

“So what do ya need? Water, food, some medicine and ta check out why this shit still hurts so bad. Fuckin’ pain killers, transportation. Fuck! A weapon, first thing is another weapon. What can break a skull? Jeez.” He bit his thumbnail again looking around and cataloging what he saw.

There was a large axe on the other side of the still intact part of the hallway and as he looked closer it was just out of reach of a half-eaten body with a bullet hole in its head. That was fucking cheerful. Daryl watched his step, taking care to be as silent as he could on his still weak legs. His instincts screamed that any loud sound could get him in trouble.

The axe was damn heavy. He swung it as best as he could and he supposed it would have to do. Its weight would carry the blow at least partway, and it would do until he was able to load his bow again.

He walked slowly forward, trying the locked rooms and doing his best to ignore all the carnage. The open rooms mostly had other patients on the beds all shot and Daryl assumed that cabinet and the gurneys saved him from the same fate. Imagine, a Dixon going out by being shot in a hospital bed. Actually, he could very well see that.

Daryl shook his head and reached an information desk. He looked around and saw no one moving but there was a water dispenser right on the other side of it. And it had those tiny plastic cups all ready to go. Daryl rushed to it with a grin, carefully tugged one out and poured the water. The bottle on the top made a very loud blob sound and he froze.

Listening for the faintest sound Daryl didn’t dare take a sip in case he might miss a shuffle or the sound of stepped on broken glass. But no sound came and finally he downed the water.

He ended up drinking five more cups until he actually felt sick and had to take a moment to recover. Then he figured he would go back for that bottle, maybe find some more of the empty ones on the floor and fill them all up until the big ass bottle was empty.

Careful not to make too loud a sound, Daryl checked out all of the drawers around the back side of the desk and scored and couple of packs of gum, Skittles, a pack of peanuts, Snickers, a couple of granola bars and a bag of mixed nuts. Surprisingly enough, the most appealing at the moment were the nuts and Daryl wasted no time in eating them.

The best find was an almost full pack of smokes with a lighter which he found in the pocket of a doctor’s robe. “Healthy livin’ and all that shit.”

He pocketed everything and realized he would soon run out of room, especially if he filled a lot of bottles with water.

So in the next rooms he found he started checking out bedside drawers in addition to keeping a lookout for a bag. Just a couple of rooms further he found some kind of gym duffel. Unfortunately it was pink but he hoped he would replace it before he met Merle. He emptied it and started packing it with all the toast, honey and jam packets he’s found. Pretzels and various other snacks seemed to be the norm. He pretended he didn’t see the previous owners of those snacks permanently laid out. But the harder thing to ignore was the smell of decay.

Once he passed one of the large doors, the hospital layout seemed to somewhat change. The rooms now had partial glass fronts and he could see the inside from the hallway. Those rooms held four beds a piece and on the bathroom door he saw the best thing – a large laundry bag that seemed to hang from two hooks. The loops were large enough he could pull them over his shoulders and it looked sturdy enough they could carry a lot.

“The way I’m headin’, gonna need a fuckin’ trolley.” He growled quietly, but still took the bag and pulled it over his left shoulder the same as the other one, leaving his right hand free so he could swing the axe.

By the time he went through the rest of the rooms on the floor he was dead on his feet and feeling the weight of the bags on his shoulders. So he backtracked and started pushing IV stands through the door handles or tying them up wherever the first wasn’t possible and the doors led to different unchecked hospital floors.

When he reached his room he was fed and watered but felt he couldn’t have made another step if his life depended on it. So he used whatever strength he had to check his window as a possible exit route, found the fall probably wouldn’t kill him, then barricaded the door to his room and collapsed on his bed.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
The next day he munched on his stash, a filled bottle next to him, and sat on the edge of the blown off part of his floor. He watched the city, the movement of the strange people, their reactions and tried to gouge which of the vehicles down there could be drivable or had keys inside for a better get away.

Daryl wished he had binoculars but at this point he wished for a lot of things. One of the main ones being the answer to the question – what the fuck was going on?

He’d managed to orient himself as far as his current location was concerned and the good news was that the hospital was on the edge of the city. The bad news was that it was on the south and therefore wrong end and he would have to either go through the actual city or circle it around so he could head on home. There were too many unknowns and he wasn’t sure how to go about leaving this shithole.

The relative peacefulness of the city changed once he caught sight of a man – looked more like a kid, really – coming in from one of the side alleys further down the street. He moved differently, paying attention to the slow walkers and doing his best not to be seen. He carried on a duffel on his back and a baseball bat in hand and every once in a while he crouched behind a car to escape detection.

His destination seemed to be a deli bakery and he was making good progress until he accidentally kicked an empty bottle. He almost fell but caught himself in the last moment. However the bottle hit the metal roof of an overturned car and made a sound loud enough all the slow walkers abandoned their current positions and headed right for him.

Daryl knew his instincts were right. The sound attracted them. That meant he would have to get a handle of his bow as soon as possible.

He watched as the kid avoided most of the slow walkers, slamming his bat at the heads of the two who’d come the closest and then ran and scaled some kind of a large container. He gave himself space then ran on top of that and climbed the building the same way until he was on the roof.

Daryl watched the two men the kid had brained but they’d stayed down. The kid however had dropped his duffel and bat, his hands were on his thighs as he panted, until he suddenly kicked at a piece of trash on the roof and started raging.

The kid looked stuck to Daryl and it was probably true. The slow walkers kept on coming and surrounding the building until there were at least sixty of them right below.

Figuring he could use some help, at least until he could understand what was going on and how the city had come to this, Daryl decided to give him a hand. He wasn’t willing to reveal his position to the hoard below but he remembered seeing a writing board in one of the rooms he’d picked through.

It took him some time to get it, but when he returned the kid was still there, so in the biggest letters he could fit Daryl wrote “Need help?”

He waved the board, careful that the dead didn’t see him but the kid did. It took a few minutes because the hospital floor was higher than the deli and the same as the slow walkers, the kid wasn’t looking up and in his direction.

Once he finally noticed, his first reaction was to let his jaw drop, but then he seemed to compose himself and started looking for something to write on. 

That had Daryl rolling his eyes so he deleted the previous message and wrote, “Talk, keep attention on u.”

It was too far for Daryl to see if the kid blushed but his posture sure screamed embarrassment.

“I sure could use a rescue.” The kid raised his voice, “Glenn, by the way.”

The hoard seemed to push harder against the wall, trying to reach the sound.

“Got car?” Daryl already hated this form of communication.

Glenn shook his head, “No. I draw less attention on foot.”

Daryl snorted, chuckling quietly. Less attention, right.

The kid must have noticed because his next words sounded half offended, “Hey! That was an accident. Usually I avoid them completely.”

Daryl ignored him and wrote, “Got group? Camp?”

“No. It’s just me.” Glenn’s shoulders slumped.

“Everywhere the same?”

“You mean the geeks?” Glenn asked.

Daryl showed him a thumb up.

“Yeah. It’s everywhere. And the still living aren’t all that nice either.” Glenn shrugged.

Fuck. That wasn’t good. It meant they would have to struggle through all the way and it’s probably the reason Merle left him. That and the shooting that must have happened.

“Wanna leave city?” Daryl asked deciding on the spot that he would help the kid either way but he also seemed like an okay guy and like it or not Daryl needed someone around until he was back to his old self.

Glenn cocked his head, “You mean with you?” Once Daryl confirmed he said, “I wouldn’t mind. Are you alone? Have a group? Where would we go?”

Daryl rolled his eyes, and then wrote, “Yes. No. North.”

Glenn laughed, “Yeah, yeah, okay. That was stupid of me. The city has the most supplies, that’s the only reason I’ve stayed this long. If you wanna stick together I would appreciate the company. It’s easier to keep watch at night. But if you want to travel together just part of the way, I’d rather stay here. Not much for living from nature and stuff.”

“Together. Now quiet.” Daryl wrote.

Unfortunately Glenn only looked confused.

“3 hours. Let them calm. Hide.” Once he was sure Glenn read it, he deleted the message and wrote again. “Will draw away, come back. Find car.”

Hopefully that was clear enough. Daryl really didn’t want to write another message.

“You’ll come back and we’ll steal a car?” Daryl showed him another thumb up.

“Okay. We should run to that parking lot” he motioned to the one on the left of him, “and if they don’t see us, siphon some fuel.” Glenn added and Daryl was kind of impressed the kid had thought of that.

The next two hours Daryl spent filling more water bottles, emptying medical cabinets and tying sheets into two ropes. One he tied to all of his supplies, planning on lowering them onto the closest car roof. The second he knotted and tied to a bearing column out in the hall before bringing a stool to the window he planned on climbing down. The whole wall below it was still intact and he wouldn’t risk knocking down debris and alerting the hoard. Hopefully his body will be able to handle the exertion.

Once he figured the three hours had passed, the slow walkers had dispersed by half. The rest weren’t as active as when Glenn was talking. Instead they just hung out there aimlessly. 

Feeling ready, Daryl picked up some of the largest pieces of concrete debris and walked quietly all the way to the other end of the building which faced another full parking lot. He took aim and threw the first piece hitting one of the cars. Unfortunately it didn’t have an alarm so he aimed for one that was looking even more expensive.

The alarm was just about deafening once it turned on and Daryl hurried to the opposite end of the hospital. The remaining crowd was already down to only a few lingering individual so Daryl started to slowly lower his supplies. None of them paid much attention. Still he waited until those from afar that were headed for the alarm were furthest from him and Glenn before he started going down his makeshift rope.

Before he would have gone down it in a matter of seconds, but now it took him a while and by the time he dropped down he barely had the strength to pull out the axe out of the loop he’d made in his belt and slam it in the head of one of those things that had seen him and came way too close for comfort.

By the time he untied his things and pulled them off the car roof, a few more took notices of him and he did his best to hurry to where Glenn had come down off his building.

“We should head that way.” Glenn looked at him, “Are you okay? Can you make it?”

“Do my best. Get movin’.” Daryl grunted and soon they were taking a quick walk in between the cars, Glenn killing the slow walkers as they neared. 

There were a lot of abandoned cars around, some still having keys in the ignition but Daryl followed Glenn’s lead who seemed to have more experience in the situation. He popped a few trunks, picked up a few things among which a few jerry cans.

They loaded the best looking truck that had a clear exit from the parking lot and Glenn took the wheel. Fortunately the thing started and soon they were speeding away from the hospital, Glenn handling the curves like a pro.

It took barely five minutes before Daryl dropped off, the exhaustion catching up with him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is up so quickly only because I couldn't resist. Writing has been slow today and I'll probably give myself room to write more before publishing the last thing I have written. Enjoy;)

He woke up with a start, the sun low on the horizon but Glenn was still driving. Silently Daryl cursed himself for letting his guard down and relaying on a stranger for such a long time.

“I was worried for you for a while there. You were barely giving off signs of life.” Glenn took his gaze off the road for a moment, long enough to look at Daryl.

“Just tired.” Daryl answered rubbing at his eyes and moving around in his seat since the muscles around his wound were still screaming.

“You weren’t bit, were you?” Glenn wondered, now looking worried.

“Naw.” Daryl hesitated, “That how it’s spread?”

“You mean you don’t know?” Glenn looked away then shook his head, “Of course you don’t have to know… If one of them bites you it’s only a matter of time before you die and turn into one of them. But I also saw a dude get shot in the gut. He died and then just got up as one of the geeks. He wasn’t bitten or anything. So I guess it happens to everyone when they die.”

“Ya know how it started?” Daryl rearranged his crossbow so he had more leg room.

“I think no one knows. The news was just suddenly all about these attacks and then they wanted all of us to evacuate but before all the people even managed to leave the city they bombed Atlanta. I think they did the same to all of the big cities because the last time I saw the news the dead were walking everywhere.” Glenn looked at him again, “How come you don’t know any of this? And what’s your name anyway?”

“Daryl. Was shot before any of tha’ happened. Woke up two days ago in that hospital. Had no fuckin’ idea what was happenin’. Everythin’ was shot ta hell, half the building was missing and there was a bunch of shot people in the rooms. Freaked me the fuck out.”

“Yeah. I heard that was one of the ways they tried to stop the infection. The army started killing the people in the hospitals but by then it was everywhere. But that’s one crazy story, man. You must have been out for at least two weeks or something because that’s when it started getting real bad.”

Daryl nodded, “I saw the last date on my chart and on a few of the others. That must have been the day they started killin’ people. I was in a coma for three months before that. Feel like shit.”

“Do you need anything in particular? We should probably find a place to stay, too. It’s not safe to drive at night with most of the roads blocked.” Glenn asked.

“Dunno. My muscles ache, can’t even load my bow. The wound hurts, but more like something I need to get used to until it passes, than like somethin’s wrong inside. But mostly I’m just tired. Feel like I could sleep a week which is fuckin’ weird if I’d been sleepin’ for months already.”

“It’s probably because of the inactivity. Your muscles need to get used to movement again. You should probably stretch or something.” Glenn nodded then asked, “So any ideas where we should stop? We’re not too close to the city” He bit his lip, “I kind of went the really long way round, so maybe try and find a house?”

“Somethin’ not close to the main path I think. Watch for an exit then pick a road tha’ doesn’t seem like it’s used much. We’ll follow tha’ until we find a house. Should eat, too.” Daryl coughed, thirsty and angry at himself because he’d put everything but his weapons in the back of the truck. Besides he couldn’t remember the last time he’d talked as much. The kid was just so earnest and shit. It was disconcerting.

“Yeah, I’ve almost gotten used to the hunger. Some days I find enough for a while, but usually there was always too many dead to risk looting a place. It’s really frustrating. I can almost see all the food but have no way of getting it. The stupid army with their bombs did more bad than good. Alive people burned but their brains were left intact, so now there’s only more geeks to fight through.” Glenn pushed off his hat from his head and ran his fingers through his hair.

“Aim for da head.” Daryl mumbled.

“What?” Glenn turned to him.

“Nothin’. Just somethin’ me asshole of a brother wrote on a pack of smokes. Ta aim for da head. Thought he was blowin’ smoke when I first saw it.” Daryl shook his head.

“Good tip.” Glenn turned onto a road that was more of an overgrown guideline than an actual road.

“Yeah, well he’s still an asshole. Wouldn’t have been shot if he didn’t mess with the wrong bitch.” Snorting Daryl paid more attention to the route in front of them.

“Seriously?” Glenn asked.

“Yeah. Was in a bar and Merle’s a shithead. Hit on someone else’s woman. Went there ta back up my brother but the guy pulled a gun and I didn’t see it in time.” Rubbing gently around the wound Daryl remembered Merle’s face in that moment. “When I find ‘im gonna break his fuckin’ nose. Bastard should ‘ave stayed with me in that hospital, or taken me with ‘im.”

“Doubt he had time. Everything happened pretty fast once the army was dispatched. I’m surprised you survived.” Glenn slowed down the car.

“Was a medicine cabinet and some gurneys in front of my door. Must have skipped my room.” Daryl wouldn’t have been surprised if Merle was the one to distract them. “Slow down some more. There’s a house up there.”

Glenn did as asked until they were right in front. Two slow walkers came from behind the house and Daryl said, “Turn the truck around and let’s get out. In case we need ta run I prefer the car was ready.”

They moved slowly, each one taking care of one of the dead. They circled the house and found no one else there, then Glenn knocked on the door and held Daryl back for a moment. Daryl was disappointed for not figuring out that one on his own. The dead ones were attracted by the noise but for now nothing shuffled inside.

Glenn led him through securing the place and Daryl hated how he felt like a cop for those few minutes. Hated the fucking pigs and here he was checking a house for perps.

“It’s safe enough I suppose. Should cover those windows if we’re gonna sleep here tonight.” Glenn said.

Daryl nodded, agreeing, “Go park the truck behind the house in case someone else comes here and bring our stuff. I’ll check out the place for more supplies.” It just about killed him to send Glenn outside. Usually he would have been the first one to risk it, but his body barely functioned and it really sucked.

He went through the kitchen cabinets and gathered a few packs of rice, bottles of cooking oil and a few spices. There was some unopened pasta, cornflakes and snacks, but also a lot of homemade jars of pickled vegetables, and whole tomatoes. Overall it wasn’t bad. He wished he could go hunting and get some actual meat to help his muscles recover, but he already knew he wasn’t up to a long hunt. He looked out the window and figured there was enough light to maybe put in a couple of traps, but that would just kill his energy so he better take Glenn with him for back up.

“Here’s everything. And it’s damn heavy let me tell you. I don’t know how you carried all of this with you when you can barely walk.” Glenn said as he came inside.

“Fuck ya, I ain’t weak.” Daryl snapped.

“Dude, I was just telling you the opposite. Are you feeling alright?” Glenn dropped the bags and moved as if he was gonna touch Daryl.

Daryl moved away, “Come keep watch as I set up some traps. We might eat meat in the morning.”

Glenn grinned and picked up his bat to follow. He turned out to be good company although he talked too much. But after the freaky quiet of the hospital for the past two days, Daryl didn’t mind the chatter, it made him feel alive.

“You really think we’ll catch something?” Glenn asked.

“If there’s anything around we will.” Daryl answered.

“That’s cool. I’ve never eaten a rabbit.” He grinned.

“Ya stick with me and I’ll have ya eating squirrel too.” Daryl grinned back.

Glenn turned kind of green and Daryl only enjoyed the moment more.

“So where are we going anyway?”

“Home. North. Gotta find Merle.” Daryl grunted.

“And you think he’ll be there?” Glenn wondered.

“’tis the only place I know ta look for ‘im. If we don’t find ‘im I’ll think of somethin’ else. Ya already said there’s no more government or anythin’. ‘s just us and the goal is ta survive. I figure we can do that easy if the only thing we gotta worry about is them slow walkers and a few of the still livin’ bastards.” Daryl finished with the last trap and stood up biting back a moan.

“Maybe we should go inside now, get something to eat and check out your wound.” Glenn shifted from one foot to the other.

Feeling naughty Daryl looked at him with a grin, “Are ya askin’ ta see me without my clothes?”

Glenn sputtered and turned red but Daryl couldn’t resist adding “I do wonder how far tha’ blush of yours goes.”

Teeth clicking closed, Glenn turned and left for the house, leaving Daryl chuckling behind him.

Back inside Glenn had opened a couple of cans, one a tomato soup and the other spaghetti and meatballs. Daryl brought some of the candles he’d found and fixed them under the cans to heat it all up.

“That’s handy.” Glenn said somewhat hesitantly.

“Can make a heater out of a can, too.” Daryl smirked.

Glenn looked away.

Daryl threw himself in an armchair and pulled the bag with the medical supplies closer to himself. He lifted up his shirt and removed the medical tape but the wound below was healed, just the muscles around it seemed tender and the scar was butt ugly, not to mention large. He guessed even though it was one bullet that went in, the damage must have been nasty. Daryl was afraid to even think about the medical bills that must have accumulated. Merle had probably cursed him just as much as Daryl cursed Merle right about now. Seemed like at least one good thing came out of the end of the world.

He found some ointment in the stuff he’d packed and spread it around. He had no idea what he was doing but it couldn’t really hurt. Only when he looked up Glenn’s gaze was glued to what was left of Daryl’ abs .

“Like what ya see?” Daryl quirked his lips.

Glenn flushed again and looked away.

“I don’t mind ya watchin’, kid. You’re cute an’ I wouldn’t refuse doin’ ya as soon I catch my breath a little. As far as I’m concerned I’ve lucked out on multiple points when it comes to the end of the world.” Daryl winked at him, enjoying himself immensely.

“Oh my God.” Glenn moaned ducking his head even further.

“What? Ain’t no one even paid ya a compliment?” Daryl asked.

Glenn shook his head furiously, “Not like that, no. Would never have figured you out as gay either.”

“Why? ‘cause I’m all redneck and crude and manly?” Daryl chuckled.

Nodding Glenn said, “Yeah to all of those.”

Daryl shrugged, “Well, I’ve always preferred girly men over girly women.”

Glenn frowned, “So you’re saying I’m attractive because I look girly?”

“Well ya ain’t exactly the epitome of manliness. Look at that smooth chin and adorable tiny eyes. Ya blush like a girl, too. It’s fuckin’ temptin’.”

“Oh my God.” Glenn mumbled.

“Ya said that already. Rather tell me if ya interested or not. I ain’t one ta take what’s not on offer.” Daryl said honestly.

“I…” Glenn squeezed his eyes shut, “I don’t know. You caught me off guard.”

“Fair ‘nough. When ya find out ya let me know. We’ll scratch that itch real quick.”

“Jesus.” Glenn mumbled then turned and got busy with their food.

Daryl figured the conversation was over so he got up and started pushing whatever furniture was movable in front of the downstairs windows. Once done he ate his fill and went upstairs saying, “Block the door before you go ta sleep. I won’t be able ta wake up for watch, too tired. Guess we’ll have ta risk it tonight.”

“I’ll stay up a while, but we should be safe this far out of the city.” Glenn nodded at him and wished him a good night.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Daryl woke up in the morning to birds chirping in front of his window. It was such a familiar sound it took him a moment to realize he wasn’t back home but rather in a strange house, miles away and alone. Well, the kid should still be around but he missed Merle. He was so used to his filthy mouth and lack of a filter he swore he would soon start turning around to tell him to shut up despite whatever voice he might hear wouldn’t be anything but his imagination.

He didn’t even need to think too hard to hear Merle’s comments about the Chink or his fag ways. Daryl shook his head and got up. He was so fucking weak he just couldn’t get used to his body not listening to him. And the wound was really strange. It felt healed but like something was different there, too. He shook his head and decided to do it all the Dixon way and ignore it. 

He looked out the window and saw the truck was still there, so he figured he could wait a while before worrying. Instead he got down on the carpet and started stretching. It was painful and awkward but he persisted. He was used to enduring all kinds of shit and he knew in the long run this would help him out.

He was covered in sweat by the time he was done and wished he could have a shower. But that thought flew away just as quickly because if he was used to anything else other than pain, it was that wishes rarely if ever came true for the Dixons.

He found Glenn downstairs looking through the windows. He grunted at him and got a good morning in return.

“Are we moving or staying here?” Glenn asked.

“What do ya think? Any slow walkers ‘round?” Daryl took a couple of pieces of toast to eat.

“Haven’t seen one. Neither last night nor this morning. Might be safe.” Glenn said but with a certain questioning tone.

“Could use a few days. Figure I’m more of a liability like this. Have ya checked the traps?”

“Haven’t been out.” Glenn shook his head.

“Well come on now, let’s see if we eat meat today or not.” Daryl helped him unblock the door and they took a walk into the forest surrounding the house.

They found two rabbits in the traps and Glenn turned away when Daryl snapped their necks. But as they were turning to go back inside the kid saw a water well which Daryl completely missed, he was so off his game.

“Good work.” Daryl mumbled when they realized the thing had actually been in use before the dead started walking.

“They have a fire stove in one of the back rooms. It’s like another kitchen but it’s all rustic looking or something. If it works maybe we could heat us some water for a bath.” Glenn looked at him hopefully.

“Ya feel like carryin’ buckets of water to the tubs, I’ll build a fire and cook us some rabbit.” Daryl said grinning. He would fucking love a bath.

He went inside to check out the stove and take a look at the kitchen. It had a feel of some type of a prep kitchen. They had a butcher’s block in there, a lot of shelves with spices and empty jars but it all looked well used. He even saw a canning kit. Daryl planned on taking all of that with them, and also finding their pantry because they must have had one.

Starting a fire took no time and he didn’t take too long to skin and gut the rabbits. He looked around and found some root vegetables that were still good and put them in a pot with the rabbits and canned vegetables. The spices worked like a charm.

“I filled both tubs halfway. Top them with some hot water and it should be good.” Glenn appeared as excited as a kid he pretty much was anyway.

“There are another two big pots over there. Fill them up and put them on the stove. Ya can go first. I’ll wait ‘till the rabbit is done, ‘cause I don’t think I’ll be gettin’ up ta actually eat if I lay down.” Daryl told him and the kid pretty much bounced back outside.

Getting to his feet, Daryl went up to the rooms and went through the closets until he found some clothes that should fit. The cargo pants would probably be a little short on him, but the waist seemed alright and he figured he would turn the clean boxers he’s found inside out. Should make it less creepy and better than his one, now who knows how old pair. He set the whole lot in the bathroom and found some scissors to cut his hair. He was redneck enough without the greasy strands falling into his eyes.

He rested a while, waiting for their stew to be done and glanced out the window every few minutes, but like the kid had said they seemed to be far enough out of the way that no walkers seemed to have found them yet.

Just when he was about to declare their food done, Glenn come back into the kitchen, as clean as Daryl had ever seen him and he replaced the water pots on the stove.

“Jesus, are ya even legal?” Daryl blurted out.

Glenn blushed, “I’m twenty five you jackass.”

“Oh, baby got teeth.” Daryl joked but inwardly he was relieved. The end of the world or not, he would feel like a dirty old man for hitting on a child.

“Shut up.” Glenn shot back, still red in the face.

For some reason Daryl cracked up at that. It was his own go to phrase when it came to Merle, and if when Merle teased him felt as good as Daryl enjoyed this moment he could kind of understand where Merle was coming from. Funny how in this situation it was Daryl who was the annoying bastard.

“Honestly, I don’t even want to know what’s so funny. Is the food done?” Glenn pulled up a stool and sat down at the table.

“Yeah, get us some plates.” Daryl stood up, transferred the pot to the table and started serving himself.

They ate in silence, the stew very filling and while Daryl’s stomach felt the pressure of too much food, he persisted, determined to get the nutrients he so desperately needed for his body to heal.

Once done, Daryl picked up one of the pots with hot water and went to the bathroom. Glenn followed with the other one without having needed to be asked.

Begrudgingly Daryl thanked him, hating the fact that he needed help in the first place. But he was generally a lot mellower than he was a few years back, not to mention the period when his pa was still alive and he’d carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. He’d hated just about everything then.

Getting undressed seemed like a chore and some of his underclothes were still damp, but the moment he sunk into the tub felt like heaven and he let out an appropriate groan.

Suddenly Glenn burst inside, “Are you alright? I heard a groan.”

Feeling too good to curse him out, Daryl leaned back in the tub instead “Lucky for your delicate sensibilities, I wasn’t jackin’ off, but I’m willin’ ta change my mind if ya wanna help a guy out.”

Instantly Glenn blushed and left the bathroom with a slam of the door.

Daryl laughed and picked up a sponge he’d prepared, soaped it up and started washing all the grime and sweat off his body.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“You’ve cut your hair.” Were the first words out of Glenn’s mouth when he first saw Daryl.

“Yeah, was too long.” Daryl said. He’d even shaved with the razor he’d found in the bathroom.

When Glenn didn’t say anything else, Daryl looked at him and realized the kid was checking him out. “Remember, if ya change ya mind and want ta taste the goods, all ya gotta do is say somethin’.”

Glenn instantly turned away and asked, “So what is our plan for the rest of the day?”

“We should find the pantry. These people canned shit and they must have had a cooler place where they kept everything. A good stash could feed us for weeks.” Daryl explained and Glenn was on his feet right away.

“You’re like a jackrabbit. What’s wrong with ya?” Daryl mumbled and followed in a much slower pace.

“I have to move. It saved my life too many times so now I’m even worse about it.” Glenn explained and started checking out every nook and cranny. 

Eventually they found a basement entrance behind built in shelving. This time it was Daryl who stopped Glenn and told him to go and get his bat before starting down the stairs.

Glenn went in first, Daryl holding his axe close behind. The basement was rather large and filled with all kinds of junk, but there was no one in there and one whole wall was covered in shelves stacked with filled jars.

“Oh my God. Look at how much food there is. We’re gonna need a bigger truck.” Glenn stood there in the middle of the basement and just stared.

“Let’s take a walk around, see maybe there’s another farm around and they have a van or something. If not we’ll take a trip to the highway tomorrow and find one that’s a better fit.

“They have peaches and strawberry jam. And look at this! These are different kind of dried beans. Not sure how you cook them but that’s gonna last us, right?” Glenn asked excited.

“Ya soak them and cook them for a long time.” Daryl replied while checking out the rest of the basement. He instantly zeroed in on a gun cabinet that wasn’t even locked. “This will come in handy too.”

“Do you think we should check out the pantries of other farms if we find a big enough car?” Glenn turned to Daryl.

“Can’t hurt none. But not everyone saves this much food. Wish my ma had done somethin’ like this. Would never had gone hungry as kid.” Daryl mumbled, “Hey, check out if they have any books on how you can shit and they must have some seeds we can plant to grow our own food.”

“Man, that’s a good idea.” Glenn started rummaging through everything, finding some winter clothes and a bunch of sharpened knives in a box.

One corner still had a few apples in a basket. They were shriveled but Daryl still took one and ate it. And in another corner there were two barrels of what smelled like wine, something Daryl also tested and very much approved as well as glass one gallon jugs of moonshine.

“Ya know, if not for Merle and this place not havin’ a fence, I would vote for us ta stay ‘ere.” Daryl commented.

“I don’t know, might be too close to Atlanta.” Glenn mumbled.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. If those hoards make a move they’re gonna level this place in no time.” Daryl agreed and kept on checking the basement.

"Too bad about those freezers.” Glenn motioned toward the ones that were placed against the wall.

“Yeah. Must have been full of food, too.” Daryl shrugged. “Come on, let’s check out if there are any other farms around.”

So they ended up walking through the surrounding trees, pass the only just flowering orchards and plowed fields. There were no dead walking around and the first farm they came across was at least half an hour of walk, away. They checked it out, killed what used to be a family inside and found similarly stocked basement.

“Come on, let’s follow the road and see if we can find our way to the first farm. Be easier later to empty them both.” Daryl pulled Glenn away from a kid’s room and superhero toys filled shelves.

“How can you know where you’re going?” Glenn asked after they’d been on the road for a while.

Daryl looked at him then away, “’s easy. Just pay attention to the sun and remember where ya came from. Last time I got lost in the woods was ‘bout nine. Never happened again.”

“I’m the same in a city. If I’ve passed through a street once I can find it and orient myself for whatever other place I need. But like this in the open? I have no idea where we are.” Glenn confessed.

Daryl just shrugged and kept on walking. He’d always loved nature. It made sense to him and nothing could quite compare to the quiet and peacefulness you could find there. Cities were always noisy and overcrowded, not to mention how they smelled. So if not for his tired body, he could have walked like this for hours.

It took them longer to find the farm by following the road but once they did Glenn went inside to check if everything was still in place and safe while Daryl sat down on the steps and stretched out his legs. Honestly he felt like he could use a damn nap and the fact pissed him off to no end.

“We’re good.” Glenn said as he came back outside and sat down next to Daryl.

Daryl just grunted and pulled his crossbow forward. He set it in front of himself and tried to cock it. He came half way before his arms started to shake. “Goddamn it!”

“You can actually shoot that thing?” Glenn asked.

“Damn straight I can. Just can’t seem ta cock it no more.” Daryl explained swearing to himself that tomorrow he would force this shit. He was as good as fucking useless. Swinging a damn axe around like an idiot.

“Is it hard to learn?”

“Dunno. Was a kid when Merle first got it for me and I kept on shootin’. But ya should probably try a bow first. It’s lighter ta hold and easier ta draw.” Daryl wondered if they could maybe find a hunting store or something to resupply. He should stock up on spare parts and lube. “Know any huntin’ stores ‘round?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never been shot in my life. Basically I found a blog about a gunshot victim, read a few posts and vaguely base Daryl’s wound on it. The rest I’m just making up.This is the link. https://gunsurvivor.antoni.us/


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These have been some busy days for me. Barely had any time at home and I'll be away on a trip all next week so I'm not sure about any updates soon, but I have one more chapter after this one written so I consider that optimistic;) Hope you all like this chapter;)

They started the next morning by finishing the rest of the stew from the previous day and Daryl added bow cocking to his morning exercise routine. He set a couple of more traps while Glenn loaded their truck with half of their supplies just in case something were to happen.

“So how come you was all alone in the city?” Daryl asked as they settled in the car. He usually wasn’t much for small talk but for the first time in days he wasn’t falling asleep on his feet so he might as well see who he was travelling with.

“Didn’t think it was smart to head out to the refugee camp. From the start they kept saying it was spreading, infected here or there. It just didn’t seem like such a good idea to get stuck with a bunch of potential sources of infection. Of course back then I didn’t know all you had to do was die to come back. I was just lucky I guess.” Glenn seemed lost in thought for a moment before coming back to his story, “Anyway, at first I stayed in my apartment but when the dead started gravitating toward each other I figured it was time to head out. Only I went in the opposite direction from the camps. Two days later they bombed the city. Been scavenging on the edges since then.”

“Why not go back to your apartment?” 

“Gunshots.” Glenn gripped the wheel harder. “Each time I got too close I would hear people shooting. Once a guy who was shot ran right in front of me and I hid instead of helping him. After him came a whole gang and they stole everything he had on him. The guy died once they left, then turned. I had to get out of there but I was careful to not draw attention to myself since then. I could handle the dead if there weren’t too many, but a couple of armed men and there was no way I was getting out of that fight.”

“Looks like I found myself a smart little partner.” Daryl grinned.

“I don’t know about that, but I got by.” Glenn was embarrassed again but Daryl kind of liked him that way.

“Where’s ya family? They dead?” Asking directly seemed like the best way to get it over with and might help him avoid foot in mouth moments later on. Still, Daryl couldn’t quite believe he was this interested in someone. He never really asked questions.

“Don’t know. They were in Michigan the last time we talked. They had no problem telling me how much of a disappointment I was.” Glenn’s voice was bitter and angry.

Daryl waved his hand, “Eh, what do they know.”

Glenn looked at him, then smiled. And he had a rather pretty smile, too. In all honestly, he was exactly Daryl’s type. Younger, lean, innocent, hell Daryl was even turned on by the awkward. Maybe he was just too innocent to bite or just wasn’t gay. But Daryl had a sense for those things, never hit on a straight guy in his life. Besides, there was this hungry look about Glenn, whenever he thought Daryl wasn’t looking. He guessed he would just have to wait a while longer to get anywhere because unfortunately he’d never been as charming as Merle.

“So it was only your brother and you?” Glenn eventually asked.

“Yeah. ‘twas always just me and ‘im.” Daryl mumbled not really wanting to talk about Merle or his parents.

“And what did you do for a living? Led hunting tours?”

That startled a laugh out of Daryl, “Jesus, no. Wouldn’t ‘ave heard the end of it from Merle. ‘sides, can’t stand them pompous jackasses who think they can hunt and look down on me as if I was no better than dirt. Would have shot them instead, more likely.” Daryl looked at him, “Naw, did this and tha’. Fixed bikes and cars, done construction, plumbin’, some electrics. Hell, worked in a factory once, too. What about you?”

Glenn grinned, “Delivered pizza.”

Chuckling, Daryl bumped his fist against Glenn’s shoulder. “Can right see ya doin’ tha’.”

Looking through the window, Daryl watched as the slow walkers turned at the sound of the truck and started following. There were more of them around the abandoned cars and the fresher ones, those less damaged, seemed to walk faster. “Should just call them walkers.”

“Sounds better than geeks.” Glenn shrugged.

“Look at that one.” Daryl pointed at a black van. “Looks brand spankin’ new.”

Glenn stopped the truck close to it and they got outside watching for walkers. It wasn’t blocked too badly by other cars so Daryl checked the front seats finding them empty and then opened the door to the back with Glenn at the ready.

Other than a few empty pallets and a ladder there wasn’t anything else inside.

“Let’s look for the keys on all of these dead people.” Glenn said and together they went through the bodies of the half eaten men and women who they found in the proximity of the van. There were a few to try out and one that actually fit.

“The tank is almost full. Think we should take the truck with us too?” Looking at Daryl, Glenn turned off the van and got out to help move some of the cars blocking the way.

“Yeah. Should get a move on. They’re coming closer.” Daryl lifted his chin toward the walkers that have picked up their way toward the noise the two were making.

“Should we turn around?” Glenn spoke as he put down the closest of the bunch.

Daryl killed another one, “Naw. Should go round, lose them. Won’t head toward the farm that way.”

Glenn nodded and got a move on. Once the space was cleared Daryl sat behind the wheel of the van while Glenn got back into the truck and they struggled driving the long way round.

Twenty minutes into the drive Glenn started slowing down. Daryl brought the van next to the truck and rolled down the window, “What’s up?”

Glenn motioned toward the fenced in area up ahead. Seemed like it used to be occupied but now only a dozen walkers seemed to be heading in that direction. “That was the refugee camp.”

“No shit?” Daryl said.

Nodding Glenn was about to speak when they heard a child’s desperate cry coming from somewhere inside.

“Shit.” Daryl spat, turned off the van and rushed toward the camp with his axe.

He heard Glenn’s steps as he followed and they cut through the walkers until they reached the fence. A section of it was collapsed and they could see more of the walkers inside feasting on someone, but the child screamed again and was to the left of them. 

A little boy had crawled in between two tightly parked RVs and while the walkers tried to get to him through the gap, none of them were able to fit. Daryl killed three of them while Glenn took care of the other two. But some of the walkers had crawled underneath and while the child was smart and had climbed up the one step the right RV had, the walker was swinging his hand, trying to grab the boy’s legs and pull him down.

Daryl cursed and scaled that same RV. He climbed up on the roof, broke the roof window and slid inside. He quickly found the window next to the locked RV door, opened it and pushed his head and arm as far as it would go outside. Luckily it was enough for him to grab the back of the boy’s jacket and he dragged him inside through the window.

As soon as he saw him the child burst into tears but held on to Daryl as if he were attached that way. He had a curly head of hair and couldn’t have been more than three years old.

Daryl patted him on the back and lifted him up slightly so he was easier to carry and mumbled, “Hush now kid, we don’t want them ta hear us.”

He wiped his snotty face against Daryl’s shirt, then lifted his head and looked at him solemnly before nodding. He still hiccupped a few times and sniffled but the sound stopped.

Daryl was rather impressed by him and went back to the roof window where Glenn was peering down.

“Pull ‘im up.” Daryl said as he did his best to untangle the small hands from his shirt and lifted the boy so Glenn could take him to the roof. Getting back up was a bit of a struggle but Daryl managed and once on the roof he took a look around.

They weren’t quite surrounded but there was a significantly higher number of walkers around their RV and not something they could manage with just an axe and a baseball bat. They both had guns now, but Daryl figured that would do more bad than good what with all the noise.

Small hands distracted him from his observations and he turned only to see the kid reaching for him. Daryl lifted his gaze toward Glenn, but the asshole just shrugged and smirked, so Daryl pulled the boy into his arms and let him settle his little head against Daryl’s shoulder.

“We could walk over the RVs and head toward the forest. You can lead us back to the truck.” Glenn suggested so they moved carefully over the three that were parked closest together and were easy to move over.

They were about to get down when they heard a very human roar and a fucking samurai ran into the walkers that were still feasting closer to the fence and started cutting them up as if they were butter. She was an avenging warrior out of a comic book with long dreads and mighty posture. He was sure Merle would have had some pretty shit to say about her, too.

The moment was broken when she killed those surrounding the victims and started shouting, “Andre!”

The boy in Daryl’s arms lifted his head and called, “Mama!”

Her head whipped over so quickly the dreads slapped her on the face but she didn’t seem to care. She only saw the boy and continued cutting through the dead until she was able to climb one of the RV’s. Once she neared them she had her sword tip forward and pointed straight toward Daryl, “Give him back.”

Daryl rolled his eyes and held out the boy for her to take him, “Woman, I ain’t got no interest in your kid so ya best not point that thing my way.”

She sheeted the sword and gripped the baby tightly.

“Best check if he’s been bitten. Was in between the RVs and the walkers were tryin’ ta get to ‘im from below.” Daryl offered then turned as if to leave but Glenn caught his arm which Daryl quickly shook off, he just couldn’t handle unexpected touch, “Wait, we can’t just leave them here.”

“She pointed a fuckin’ sword at me.” Daryl looked at him as if he were insane.

“Yeah, but I’m sure she didn’t mean to. She just wanted her boy back.” Glenn smiled optimistically as if that would magically fix everything.

“Well why don’t ya just ask her ta point it and not mean it at ya, and see how ya feel ‘bout it then.” Daryl crossed his arms in front of his chest feeling his scar stretching uncomfortably.

“I apologize.” The woman spoke catching both their attention, “I’m Michonne. Thank you for saving my son.”

Daryl looked away, uncomfortable with the thanks and mumbled, “Should have taken care of ‘im better.”

Glenn bumped against Daryl’s arm but before he could say anything Michonne spoke, “He was with his father and our friend. I didn’t know they would think me going on a run was the perfect time to get stoned.”

Glenn lowered his head, “Sorry for your loss.” While Daryl just looked back toward the trees.

Michonne nodded still hugging Andre, “You two are alone?”

Glenn smiled, “Yes. Just came looking for a bigger vehicle and were taking the longer route when we heard the little guy screaming.”

She nodded again, “I would like to join you if it’s not a problem. But my body is not on offer in exchange, just my sword.”

Daryl snorted, “Lady, ya ain’t my type and even if ya were Glenn’s he’d sooner burst in flames than come on ta ya. Believe me, I’ve been tryin’ to get ‘im ta loosen up.”

Glenn pushed him, “Shut up.” But Daryl ignored him and nodded at Michonne, “Name’s Daryl, and this here’s Glenn.” He wrapped his arm around Glenn’s shoulders and pulled him into his body just to mess with him.

Predictably Glenn pushed him away and said, “We should get going. There’s too many of them and Daryl’s not at his best. Do you need to get anything, because we don’t have any clothes for kids or whatever else small children need?”

She thought about it for a minute then said, “I could go get our bags if you’ll watch my back.”

“No problem. Daryl’ll watch Andre. The kid likes him better than me anyway.” Glenn nodded and somehow Daryl found himself with an armful of Andre once again.

“Reduced to a fuckin’ babysitter. If Merle saw me now I’d never hear the end of it.” Daryl mumbled and Glenn must have heard him because he just chuckled and motioned for Michonne to get a move on.

Andre pressed both his hands against Daryl’s cheeks, “Thank yous.”

“Stop that,” Daryl scowled and moved his face away, then felt bad and said, “You’re welcome, kid.”

But the child kept on staring at him and Daryl sighed, “Ya did good back there. Hid well and climbed up so they couldn’t get ya. Smart.”

The kid nodded with a serious little face then snuggled back down against Daryl’s shoulder.

Glenn and Michonne didn’t take long and as they got out of one of the trailers with three bags on their shoulders they also helped clear the way so Daryl could get down from the RV and all of them together headed back toward the truck.

“Ya wanna take the van? It’s empty inside, we just needed it ‘cause we found a bunch of stuff we wanted to take with us.” Daryl offered and Michonne put their bags in the back then settled Andre in the front.

Daryl was driving the truck and only ten minutes later he stopped again just as they were passing a car with all doors open. He left the truck running and got into the back of the abandoned car to unclip the car seat in the back. He also spied a baby bag behind the seat so figured it wouldn’t hurt to pop the trunk. There wasn’t much in the back, just some blankets and some kind of a cloth swing or whatever that shit was. He just picked everything up and came to the side of the van.

“Thanks Daryl.” Michonne said with a smile and Daryl just waved it away. Instead he helped her set everything up and got back in the truck.

“That was very sweet of you.” Glenn said after they’d been driving for a while.

Daryl’s first reaction was to get embarrassed and tell him to shut up, but instead he did it Merle style, “Yeah? That mean you’re getting all warm feels and shit for me?”

Predictably Glenn blushed, but also said, “I might.”

Daryl looked at him then turned back to the road, “Damn, that means I’m gonna havta be nice to all the kids and moms we run across. At that rate I might need fucking years to get laid.” But Glenn just chuckled without commenting.

Once back at the farm, Daryl and Glenn checked the perimeter and the traps coming back with another rabbit and a raccoon.

“We’re gonna taste all the woodland creatures the way you’re going.” Glenn pitched in as they got back into the house.

“If I was feelin’ better I would hunt us a deer. Best meat. Or a wild hog. Would love me some of tha’.” Daryl said then threw the catch on the table in the little kitchen and started cleaning it.

Glenn was watching him with a sour expression so Daryl gave him something to do, “Should ask ‘chonne if she wants a bath and bring in some water to heat up.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“This is the best meal I’ve had since the world ended.” Michonne said with a smile, Andre playing with some toy cars on the floor next to her chair.

Glenn snorted, “Yeah, he’s a great chef until you ask what exactly are you eating.”

Daryl scowled at him, “If ya don’t like it, ya can eat the cans.”

Glenn sat up straight, “Hey, I just said it’s good. I just never thought I’d eat a bunny or a raccoon.”

“Variety is the spice of life.” Michonne hummed.

Daryl pointed his spoon at her, “What she said.”

Lifting his hands in the air Glenn conceded, “Alright, alright. Won’t say a word about it again.”

“So where are you headed?” Michonne asked as she finished her meal and started tidying up.

“Just leave it. We plan on headin’ out tomorrow, no sense in doin’ the dishes.” Daryl told her as he stretched and promptly grimaced. The day hadn’t been good to his body and he still planned on practicing on his bow. “We’re goin’ north ta my town. Was hopin’ ta find my brother there. But if not, it’s still safer among them woods then so close to the big cities.”

“You got separated?” Michonne asked curiously.

“Naw. The bastard left me in a hospital in a coma after getting me shot.” Daryl deadpanned.

Glenn decided to jump in, “He barricaded his room but probably had to leave when they started shooting the patients in hospitals. He woke up alone a few days ago.”

Michonne lifted her eyebrows at Daryl.

“’s true. Freaked the fuck out with the place shot to hell and half the buildin’ missin’. Had no idea what was goin’ on.” Daryl nodded.

“That’s some story. Probably better you missed the worst of it.” Michonne conceded.

“Would have probably gone to the woods with my bow. Good hunting and not easy ta get to. Figure I woulda been fine. Unless Merle started some shit as usual.” Daryl stood and picked up his bow, braving himself for the ache or cocking it.

“You don’t seem to like your brother very much and yet you’re searching for him.” Michonne observed and leaned back in her chair, watching Daryl.

“That’s ‘cause he’s a right asshole. If he was ‘ere it woulda been Chink this, fag that and whole lotta niggas and bitches to go ‘round. But he’s family. Ya might not always like ‘em but ya protect ‘em an’ stick by their side.” Daryl grunted as he managed to finally cock his bow.

“He wouldn’t hurt us, would he?” Glenn looked almost scared.

“Naw. He’s gotta big mouth but he don’t beat on women and kids.” Daryl explained firing an arrow into the couch.

“Well I’m not a kid or a woman.” Glenn said indignantly.

“Don’t go kickin’ up a fuss. If you’re not aggressive he don’t got a reason ta be, and I don’t think I’ve met anyone less aggressive like than you.” Daryl tried loading the bow again, “With Merle ya gotta ‘ave a smarter mouth ta earn respect and don’t back down when he’s bullshittin’ ya. ‘chonne will do good, she don’t take no shit. And the rest of the time ya ignore ‘im ‘cause there’s none he loves more than getting’ under people’s skin.”

“Well, don’t he sound like a real peach.” Michonne deadpanned.

Daryl chuckled and pointed at her, “There, that right there. That’s how ya deal with Merle. He’ll pause, grin and then try hittin’ on ya.”

“But isn’t he a racist or something?” Glenn asked, looking confused.

“Well, he is and he ain’t. He likes ta talk and insults are one of his main weapons, but would he sleep with Michonne? Ain’t no question about it. He’d insult her and still expect her ta put out. The ridiculous thing is that it works ‘bout half the time.” Daryl shook his head, “I’ll never understand women. If I called a guy a Chink than told him he had pretty lips, perfect for blowin’ me, I’d probably get my teeth knocked out if the guy’s got any self-respect. Hell, he’d at least slap me tryin’ ta be all manly and shit. But I’d gone done and seen Merle say worse and had the bitch up against the wall ten minutes later.”

Even Michonne had her jaw drop slightly before composing herself, “Well, I can’t say I’ve ever met any of those kinds of women.”

Glenn nodded with more frantic energy than the conversation deserved in Daryl’s opinion but he still liked the guy and whished once again that Merle’s approach worked for him as well. And if whishes were horses… Hell, any one of them could ride if they could find a horse right about now, and crazier things have happened. So Daryl grinned at Glenn and winked which had the kid scurrying out of the room with a hasty good night.

“Personally, I don’t think you’re not charming. There’s something about you… Besides you’re not bad looking so your issue with Glenn is most likely his insecurity or inexperience. Perhaps if you tried a milder approach. He just might be one of those you have to wine and dine to get anywhere.” Michonne said as she lifted Andre and headed to bed.

“I just might try that. Wake ya up in four hours for watch.” Daryl grinned at her before blowing out the candle and opening the curtains to see outside as much as the moonlight would allow.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
The morning brought with it an ominous looking fog. It covered the trees and reduced visibility forcing Daryl to second guess their plans. He did his routine, the bow cocking already much improved, and washed haphazardly with a cloth and cold water he’d brought to the bathroom in a bucket then went downstairs.

“Morning.” Glenn greeted looking nervous.

“Everything alrigh’?” Daryl asked before he found some of that toast he’d gathered to eat.

“I don’t know. Just don’t like the fog. Makes me expect something bad.” Glenn said still looking more outside than at Daryl.

“Yeah. Maybe we should postpone our trip. See what ‘chonne thinks first.”

“About what?” the woman in question asked as she stepped into the kitchen, Andre in her arms. The child waved at Daryl and grinned sweetly but completely ignored Glenn.

Daryl smirked at Glenn before saying, “We was thinkin’ maybe we should stay ‘ere another night, or at least until the fog lifts. Don’t feel right comfortable travelin’ in tha’.”

“It’s not a bad idea. You can’t see them in this until they’re at your throat.” Michonne pulled out a small jar of one of those baby puree things that looked as unappealing as possible, but Andre seemed to be excited about it. Maybe it did taste good, just looked like puke. Daryl shrugged.

“There’s some canned peaches, pears and cherries down in the pantry. A bunch of jam too, if ya wanna feed ‘im somethin’ homemade. People who’d lived ‘ere preserved everything.” Daryl stood, “Can bring some if ya want. Goin’ down there anyway.”

Michonne smiled, “Pears would be great, thank you.”

Daryl nodded and brought her a jar together with all of the fresh apples that had been left. He put them on the table and went to start a fire. As soon as it was done he brought himself a pot and started cleaning the apples. He planned on making compote with some of the dried plums he’d seen and spices. Should taste alright.

“Was thinkin’ of going out to shoot us some squirrels for lunch. Gonna check out the road.” Daryl commented as he worked.

“You’re going out in this?” Glenn raised his voice, “But you won’t be able to see anything.”

“Can see enough ta check for trouble.” Daryl explained, “If I’m not back in a couple of hours, ya come find me. I won’t be too far from the road so I’ll be able ta hear the truck and y’all will be able ta hear me callin’ if ya drive by.”

Before Glenn could protest again, Michonne said, “Sounds like a plan.” And Glenn shut his mouth with a click, turned and went upstairs.

Daryl looked after him then at Michonne. She just smiled, saying, “This would be one of those wine and dine moments. You should go after him and I’ll take over here. I’m good enough to follow your lead and clean them. But I’ll leave the cooking to you.”

Daryl looked at her as if she was insane because he didn’t really understand what the problem was in the first place, but reckoned she was a woman and so far she’d been brimming with advice. He doubted it could hurt to listen.

Upstairs, the door to the room Glenn had taken was open and he was sitting on the bed, one leg tucked under him.

Daryl knocked for whatever reason people do that when the fucking door was open. At the Dixon house, even when the door was locked people seemed to get inside and ain’t ever no one knocked before.

Glenn glanced at him then looked away.

“What’s the trouble, little man?” Daryl threw himself on the bed, making both it and Glenn bounce.

“It’s nothing.” Glenn mumbled.

“What was that?” Daryl leaned forward dramatically, “Because what I heard was bullshit. Now tell me what the hell is wrong. Ya ain’t a woman so don’t make a man god damn guess. Jesus Christ, we ain’t even fuckin’ yet.”

“Fine. Fine! You wanna know what’s wrong? I’ll tell you what’s wrong!” Glenn got up to his knees on the bed, “Being with you these past few days was the safest I’ve felt in years. Not even since the dead started getting up, for years, Daryl. And now you just want to get out into the fucking fog and hunt for squirrels. Anything can kill you, walkers and men, you could even fall down a ravine. What happens to me then, huh? I go back to Atlanta and hope no one shoots me and I don’t get stuck on a roof again? What happens to Michonne and Andre?”

“Keep me out of this, please.” Michonne shouted from somewhere and right away Glenn shrunk in on himself.

Daryl just watched him for a moment then said, “There ain’t no ravines ‘round this farm.”

Glenn straightened up once more, “What? You’ve checked the whole place out?”

“Naw,” Daryl smirked, “Just wanted ta see ya all bristlin’ like a porcupine, again.”

Glenn grinned and rubbed at his hair, “God, you’re such an asshole.”

“Come ‘ere,” Daryl said and reached out, grabbed Glenn and knocked him down next to him on the bed. He hugged him until he was half sprawled on his chest then whispered, “I like ya too, kid. If ya wanted to come with, all you had ta do is say so. We’re a team, me and you, we stick together, a’right?”

Glenn gripped at Daryl’s shirt and nodded against his body.

“So, ‘chonne tells me I gotta wine and dine ya. That true?” Daryl gripped Glenn tighter around the waist when he tried to move away.

He relaxed gradually and at one point he seemed to surrender. That’s when he started talking, “I lied before. When I said why I never went to the refuge center. I was there for not even a day when this one greasy dude who was supposed to assign me a bunk offered privileges for certain favors. I refused of course, didn’t think much of it. It was creepy but I delivered pizza, creepy was in my job description. When I went there, they treated you nice for the most part, but before they let you sleep there, you had to have a checkup, to see if you were bit. It was only hours after the creepy dude that my turn came, only while I waited there in my shorts, the doctor got lost and the greasy guy came in instead. They’d locked the door and I couldn’t get out. He was slow but when he managed to hit me in the head I wasn’t all there for a moment. He got me down to the floor, started groping me. When I felt his hand inside my shorts I freaked out. Must have scratched him, or hit him, I don’t even know. I just used the opportunity and dropped from the second floor window, barefoot and in just my shorts. Twisted my ankle, but I still ran as fast and as far as I could. Locked myself in on the last floor of the first building I reached. Then I locked every door I passed until I closed myself in a closet. Didn’t get out for two days.”

Daryl wanted to break something, definitely kill a few people but right now none of it was an option. If he was good at anything it was listening, so when Glenn talked he gritted his teeth and listened. There wasn’t much else he could do to help in that moment anyway.

“I’m not a virgin, you know. I know I’m kinda cute and plenty awkward, but if you go to a right club there are enough men who get off on that. It’s just…” Glenn hesitated, “I don’t really want to be naked these days, don’t want anyone touching me if it’s not casual, you know, friendly.”

“I’m gonna sound like an ass, but ‘ave no idea how else ta say it.” Daryl moved his hand up Glenn’s back and pushed his fingers lightly through his hair, “Never had a relationship ‘fore, just sex and that’s my usual game. Talk ‘till ya get what ya came for. It don’t mean I ain’t interested in notin’ else. It’s just that if I talk, it probably won’t come out all pretty like, hell, I’ll probably sound like Merle, but I … Shit, just wanna say that if ya want somethin’ serious I wanna try and shit goes how ya say it goes. A’ight?”

Glenn chuckled, “Yeah, Daryl, alright.”

Daryl tightened his fingers in Glenn’s hair and pushed him harder against his chest, “Ya ain’t gotta laugh at me, ya little dick!”

Glenn just laughed harder, “I’m sorry, I can’t help it. That was like the worst speech I’ve ever heard. You’re lucky I understand redneck and could graduate on awkward.”

Daryl pushed him away, but he wasn’t really mad. Actually he was rather proud he’d managed to make Glenn laugh, but he hid his smirk saying, “Ya goin’ with me or not, ya little asshole?”

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Glenn shouted as he half ran after him.

“I wish,” Daryl mumbled but loud enough for Glenn to laugh again. Daryl kind of liked the end of the world so far.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What can I say, just didn't feel like writing what with work and having a painting inspiration instead. This is that one done chapter I've finished back in October. Have a bit of chapter five written, but I have to see how completing it will go. Loved reading this story again:) I honestly forget after a time that I'm for the most part genuinely pleased with the stories I write despite what others might think of them;) Hope you enjoy.

“Do ya know how ta shoot?” Daryl asked Michonne once he and Glenn were ready to leave.

She nodded her head and Daryl gave her one of the rifles they’d found in the house. “Best keep watch from the upper floor. Ya see someone ya don’t know or who looks suspicious, fire a warning shot. If they don’t listen, you shoot the motherfucker. At least shoot a leg or the dominant arm if ya don’t want ta kill them. Don’t let them into the house or face them with just your sword. Too dangerous.”

Michonne smiled at him as she took the rifle and just said, “You boys have fun.”

Daryl snorted, took hold of Glenn’s jacket and pulled him toward the door.

“Hey, hey, gentle with the merchandise.” Glenn joked as he stumbled behind.

Daryl stopped, turned and grazed Glenn’s cheek with his knuckles, “Trust me, when I get ta handlin’ the merchandise ya won’t be coherent ‘nough ta joke ‘bout it.”

Looking at the ground, Glenn rubbed the toe of his shoe against the dirt, “Yeah, alright.”

Daryl just nodded, fond, and led the way into the forest, following alongside the road.

“Try and step where I step but keep a look out so no one sneaks up on us. We gotta be quiet so we don’t scare the game and in case there’s company ‘round.” Daryl threaded lightly among the trees, feeling restless. Besides food, that was one of the main reasons he’d wanted to go out this morning. There was something expectant in the air and his instincts screamed at him to check it out.

“Gotta whisper?” Glenn said with barely a breath.

“If ya havta speak at all. Imagine we’re in one a those video games and you’re leanin’ stealth.” Daryl said with a grin but his back was to Glenn and sure enough, the kid shut up and continued stepping dramatically behind Daryl, trying to minimize the sound.

The first time Daryl nailed a squirrel to the tree, Glenn startled so hard he jumped, tripped and squealed loud enough for birds around to take flight.

Unable to help himself, Daryl chuckled, then kept on chuckling as he unpinned the squirrel and tied it for transport.

“It wasn’t that funny.” Glenn mumbled.

Barely able to catch his breath, Daryl said, “Trust me, yes it was.”

That scared the game away for quite some time, but Daryl kept on walking lightly, pleased to just be outside, and listened. It took him a moment but then he realized what he was hearing and stopped Glenn with a hand to his chest, pressing a finger against him lips to keep him quiet.

The sound got clearer the closer the two men came, and they were men, arguing on the path leading right for their current house.

“I claim the first go at the next woman we find.”

“What if she’s a real looker or pushing eighty, Len? Gonna commit to that before you see the goods?”

“I ain’t saying I’m gonna fuck her if she’s a nasty, but I claim the possibility of fucking her, Joe.”

“You sound like you haven’t had pussy in years. You fucked like three days ago.”

“It don’t matter. I can always appreciate some more.”

“Isn’t that the truth.”

“Gonna claim a kid if we find one, too?”

And that was as much as Daryl needed to hear. He turned to Glenn and motioned for him to take out his gun. He mimicked going first and having Glenn follow. He wasn’t sure how much Glenn understood but figured it was enough because he continued matching Daryl’s steps and he’d gotten the gun at a ready.

Daryl could follow them by the sound, but the fog was tricky because it hid the sight of the two men for quite a while until finally it didn’t. Daryl saw them the same moment as the men caught sight of them and while he fired right away, killing the older, grey one, the one with the bow managed to let an arrow fly before Glenn shot him in the stomach. Daryl felt that arrow cut the whole side of his body even as he turned to avoid it, and slam with a thunk sound behind them in a tree as it passed.

“Shit, shit. I’m sorry. I’m not that good of a shot. Are you alright?” Glenn moved around Daryl as a fly, trying to help him but not knowing how bad it was nor what to do exactly.

Daryl grunted, his palm already against the wound. “Pull the bandana from my left pocket.”

Glenn didn’t hesitate as he first tried the one below his hip, then the lower one on the pant leg. Daryl moved his hand and allowed Glenn to press the bandana against the wound before taking hold of it himself.

“Put the cross bow over my head, then pick them for everythin’ they’ve got.” Daryl hissed as the movement jolted his new wound but didn’t say anything. The kid felt guilty enough as it was, like it was his fault that he didn’t know how to shoot. Personally Daryl was impressed he shot as fast as he did in the first place. Especially at a living person.

To make things worse, that was the moment he heard the walkers. There’s was a lot of them coming, and some were moving fast. He tried to work out a plan, something that would keep them all safe, but his blood was probably like a beacon for something that fed on flesh and the fastest way for them to move in the fog would be on the path.

“Glenn, we’ve got company comin’, but don’t panic. Throw that other bow over my shoulder, too, then take off your jacket.”

Glenn hesitated for just a moment before doing as asked.

“Now tuck the bandana inside my shirt so it covers the wound but don’t fall off. Then pick everything else ya can and run ta the house. Block the front door and windows, douse the fire in the stove and leave the back door unlocked for me. Remember ta keep quiet. No more shots.” Daryl ordered and lifted his arm so Glenn could do as asked.

Daryl could see Glenn was reluctant so he offered, “Gonna be right behind ya, but I have ta mask our scent and you’ll be faster to warn ‘chonne.”

Glenn nodded and didn’t take more than ten more seconds to start running. By that time Daryl had pulled out his knife and stood there at a ready, waiting for the first walker to appear.

When they came, four were faster than the others by what sounded like at least twenty, maybe thirty yards. He’d hoped for less, but there was no influencing that. Instead he tried to ignore the way they zeroed in on him instead of on the dead bodies on the floor and pushed one away while slamming his knife in the side of the head of the other. The third one he got under his chin and barely escaped the fourth as it tried to get a hold of his arm and bite on it.

He grabbed its hair with his left hand, his side burning with pain and stabbed it in the eye. By that time the first one was back on its feet and moving at Daryl. He stepped away until he was right over Glenn’s jacket. Then he gutted the walker, letting it all fall out beneath them, as he avoided its rather short hands, before putting it down with another temple stab of his knife. He pushed the walker away from the jacket as he pulled out the knife and it fell right on the side of it.

The walkers were just about visible as they came through the fog, so Daryl bent down, tears rushing to his eyes, gathered Glenn’s jacket with its foul smelling content and ran as fast as he could toward the house.

He didn’t turn around to look how many of them followed and how many had stayed to feast on the two men. Instead he quickened his pace, tried not to throw up both from the smell and from the pain and hoped to God his plan worked.

It seemed like the run lasted for an eternity but it probably couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes. His whole side was wet with blood, which was now soaking into his pants, sticking to his leg and when he saw the door to the house, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to cry or laugh for the sheer joy of it.

The walkers had fallen behind, but they couldn’t be more than ten minutes away. So Daryl gritted his teeth, pushed his hand into the contents of the jacket and started smearing the stench all over the steps where they’d sat, on the door and the handle, around the windows. Then he went to the back and repeated the process before spreading the jacket right in front of the door. He used the soiled hand on the door knob and let himself inside.

Glenn and Michonne were there with the overturned heavy kitchen table which they used to block the door.

Daryl didn’t pay them any mind. Instead he washed his hands in the bucket of water next to the stove then took all of his bloody clothes off and started stuffing them into the stove, hopeful the ash would cover the smell of blood.

He startled when Michonne appeared at his side, wrapping his wound with a gauze, while Glenn wiped his skin of all the blood with a wet cloth which he dropped in the bucket when done. Neither of them paid attention to the fact he was buck naked in the kitchen. Michonne just gave him a bathroom robe once she’s fastened the gauze. Then she pointed to the upstairs and they all climbed up as quietly as they could.

Andre was sleeping on the bed, covered with a sheet and it honestly couldn’t have happened better. He sat next to a window and watched motionless as the walkers started appearing out of the woods from the direction of the paths. Most went around the house as if it were just an obstacle, but some he could hear stepping on the porch and banging on the door. However their interest didn’t last long and all was quiet after no more than half an hour.

There must have been at least fifty of them that they could see, but Daryl figured there had been more, just hidden by the fog and the trees. It proved the point of how unsafe it was to stay in a house like this in the open. They needed a fence of some kind. Something that would stop the walkers before they were close enough to demolish a house with their sheer numbers.

When he went to stand, Daryl got so dizzy he almost collapsed. Luckily Michonne was there to keep him steady and she led him to the bathroom. After sitting him down on the toilet seat, she helped him to pull out his arms out of the sleeves and leave the rest of the bathrobe to cover his crotch.

She unwrapped the gauze, cleaned the area then numbed it with some of the shit he’d taken at the hospital. He mentally patted himself on the back for carrying all that heavy crap when he’d just woken from a fucking coma. Of course, if Merle had been there they probably would have stolen an ambulance and the whole of the pharmaceutical stash of the hospital.

The stitches weren’t pretty but he probably would have done worse. The wound itself wasn’t horribly deep and the arrow didn’t hit anything vital, but with the way Daryl had moved to avoid it going through his body, it seemed to have caught a good patch of skin and muscle on the side of his chest extending to almost a foot.

“Were ya a nurse?” Daryl asked once Michonne had wrapped him up again.

“No. An artist.” Michonne smirked at Daryl’s lifted eyebrow. “I had a doctor show me the basics while we were at the camp. Things didn’t seem like they were going to get better and I had Andre to think about. I learned whatever he was willing to teach before he left with the others.”

“Thanks.” Daryl nodded at her.

“You’re welcome. I’ll bring you something to eat and drink. It won’t be cooked but you’ve lost a lot of blood and it’s better than nothing.” Michonne stood up from where she’d been half seated against the edge of the tub.

Daryl pulled on the sleeves of the bathrobe again and retied it then tried to stand up. Almost falling again hadn’t been in his plans and he had to grip the edges of the sink to stay upright. The situation gave him too many flashbacks to his time alone in the hospital and he absolutely hated feeling as weak once more.

The Glenn appeared and calmly crouched in front of Daryl. He spread the leg holes of a pair of boxer shorts and without a word waited for Daryl to step in them. Once he did, Glenn pulled them up all the way, blushing only slightly when he reached his junk.

But Daryl was too tired to tease and was truthfully too thankful to lash out in anger at his own weakness like he would have done before and even now on occasion when he was feeling particularly low.

Glenn helped him keep steady as he led him to his room and bed and stayed with him until he was situated under the covers like the worst invalid. But there was something about blood loss that left Daryl incapable of giving two fucks and something about Glenn which made you want to hug him rather than scold him. So Daryl closed his eyes, felt the weight of Glenn’s body as he tucked himself against him and drifted.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Daryl had eaten at some point then fell asleep again and somehow the next time he was coherent he had to piss like crazy and it seemed to be a bright morning.

He was alone in his bed and struggled to his feet, the wound pulling and the scar of the old one not particularly happy with him either. He managed to take a leak and wash his face before he braved the steps and dropped down into the chair at the kitchen table.

Andre left his toys on the floor, got to his feet and came to Daryl, hugging his thigh, “Missed you.”

Daryl blushed, not expecting it, but lifted his hand and ruffled the kid’s hair gently, “Missed ya, too.”

Andre nodded and went back to his toys. Daryl looked up and noticed both Glenn and Michonne looking at him with this sweet and tender gaze that set his teeth on end, “Wha’?”

“Nothing.” Glenn said right away focusing on his meal, while Michonne went with honesty, “You’re all redneck adorable with him. Wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it.

Daryl pressed his palm against his eye, “Shut up.”

“Don’t be a grouch. Eat.” She pushed two bowls in front of him, one filled with nuts and the other with various canned fruit.

Believing that having his mouth full would be the best subject change on offer, Daryl did just that and ignored the looks the two exchanged in front of him.

“We were thinking we should start loading up the cars with everything here then go to the other farm tomorrow.” Michonne said once Daryl was done.

“Sounds good.” He nodded.

“Will we stay there for a few days or move along?” Glenn asked.

“Depends I guess. We could stay a while, ‘till I heal up some. Seems ta be the only thing I’m doin’ is healin’. Dunno, maybe a week or somethin’. Feels risky.” Daryl grumbled.

“I believe it’s better we stay put until you’re back on your feet. Despite the walkers yesterday, this is the calmest it’s been for me in days. If it ends up being the same on the other farm we should take advantage of it. You won’t have the chance to recuperate on the road where we’ll have to fight and run constantly. Move cars from the road, lift heavy loads. It wears on the body, especially one that’s not a hundred percent.” Michonne said.

Daryl hated to admit it, but she was right. He would have to take it easy so they could count on him in a fight so he just nodded and watched wide eyed as Michonne leaned down to Andre and said, “You stick with Daryl today, alright? Momma has some work to do and he’ll keep you safe.”

Andre nodded then looked at Daryl with a shy smile. He was a weird kid, but strangely adapted to the end of the world as far as Daryl had seen.

“If ya plan on eatin’ today, Glenn should go and set up some traps first.” Daryl said with a smirk, making Glenn freeze in his steps.

“I’m not sure I know how to do that.” Glenn said tentatively.

“You’ve seen me do it.” Daryl answered, watching him and loving him squirm.

“Yeah, but…” Glenn hesitated.

“You’ve been watchin’ my ass more than me settin’ the traps, weren’t ya?” Daryl teased and Glenn blushed to the roots of his hair.

Michonne rolled her eyes, “Leave the kid alone. He’s young enough to have a healthy sex drive, nothing wrong with that.”

Glenn scowled at her, his fists tight against his body, “Jeez, not you, too. I’m twenty five, not seventeen!”

Daryl lifted his right foot to the edge of the stool and put one hand in his pocket before looking at him with a smirk, “Thirty five.”

Michonne crossed her arms in front of her chest and tilted her head, “Thirty two. Does that mean your sex drive isn’t much too write home about?”

Glenn did something that looked a lot like stomping his foot before saying, “Oh my God!” and walking away from them both.

Daryl and Michonne looked at each other and laughed. It was damn fun to bust his balls.

She soon followed and Daryl was alone with Andre who was looking at him with his thumb in his mouth.

“So what do ya say? Wanna go with me and learn how ta set traps?” Daryl asked and the kid pulled his thumb out of his mouth and nodded with a smile stretching across his whole face.

So Daryl stood up carefully, took hold of Andre’s small hand in his left and went outside. He pulled the back of Glenn’s hoody as he passed him, mumbling, “Come keep guard and watch this time. I’ll undress later for ya, if ya really want ta ogle.”

Glenn sputtered but followed close behind while Michonne packed the stash inside the house.

Daryl talked softly with Andre, showing him how to find the most traveled trails, what to watch for, then how to set up snares with some cut up branches and string. He showed him two variations and set up three traps before he got too tired to continue and they returned back inside at a slow pace while Glenn stayed with Michonne and helped with loading the trucks.

They’d killed four walkers that day, most likely leftovers from the herd that had passed but otherwise had no trouble and somehow, that night when he went to sleep, Glenn found his way to Daryl’s bed.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Daryl figured with their early bed times and after he finally healed, he would probably start each day with the dawn like he used to before everything. Even today, as he opened his eyes, the sun was only just rising.

He felt Glenn’s warmth where he pressed against him, but the kid had snuggled in as if he’d been cold for most of the night and that wasn’t such a stretch as some nights were still colder than others. Daryl wrapped his right hand around him tighter and kissed the top of his head.

He liked the closeness and the natural way Glenn had started to gravitate toward him. He thought him attractive but sex wasn’t the only thing on his mind. For the most part he didn’t really crave it all that much. He’d just inherited some of Merle’s motor mouth combined with his dirty vocabulary. Was hard not to when living with it for most of his life. But Merle had also always bordered on being a sex addict or so it had seemed to Daryl, and Daryl was more of a mind if he got it, great, if he didn’t it didn’t much matter.

Daryl knew his words gave people the wrong idea, but for the most part it was difficult to not tease Glenn and he worried that if he stopped he wouldn’t have much else to say at all. He remembered the impression he’d given people when he was younger, seemed like more of a danger than Merle. Merle might have had the looks of a criminal when he was under the influence, but Daryl had had both the attitude and temper to make people keep their distance until he learned to relax and to tease, by now it was a part of him.

But he found he rather liked being this close to someone without feeling the pressure of the next move just as he’d suspected he would. With Glenn it seemed easy, to let him touch or hug or cuddle. To pull him against his body was becoming second nature and Glenn never protested the closeness, just pulled the limit at nakedness.

On the other hand, when Daryl had been naked and injured, Glenn was all professional and shit, taking care of him as if it were his job and not like he was seeing Daryl naked for the first time. Daryl was grateful for that, too. His scars had bothered him, much more when he’d been younger, but even now he hesitated before he had to pull off his shirt. Having a sex life had taught him that not all bodies were perfect and few were cover lookalikes. In the same way he liked those differences and noticed or didn’t always notice other people’s scars, so did his partners. On occasion a man would ask, but most never cared. One woman recoiled, but Daryl found it funny that she was one of Merle one nighters and caught Daryl by accident when he was heading for a shower. But neither Michonne nor Glenn reacted and he liked them all the more for it.

Glenn squirmed in his arms suddenly, mumbled “Bathroom,” then stumbled toward it with his eyes half closed.

When he was done he came back to bed and crawled on Daryl, careful of his left side, and snuggled right back in. Daryl chuckled and kissed his hair again and mostly asleep, Glenn breathed out, “Love that,” before letting out the softest of snores.

Daryl wasn’t sure what love felt like. He knew loyalty and brotherly affection. Deep inside he was almost entwined with Merle, his blood, his only pillar in life and he was sure he loved him. But to define that feeling? Say it was equal as being willing to die for someone, or live for someone as he’d seen in a movie once. Daryl just didn’t know, but if he was capable of that emotion at all, he was pretty sure, in time, he would come to know it well when it came to Glenn.


	5. Chapter 5

The first day at the new farm wasn’t much different than their experience with the old one. After first clearing the area as much as they could, they used the dead flesh to stink up the outside and Glenn and Andre did their best to set up the traps. Well, Glenn was setting them and Andre was giving the side commentary which was mostly accurate and funny as hell.

Daryl wasn’t feeling well, so he sat on a rocking chair on the porch and watched them as they walked closer to the forest edge. This house had more space between the structure and the trees as it seemed the family had grown their food all around it. They’d had some animals in the barn out back, but whatever had been inside was now long gone and they’d used it to hide the car and van while they were there. The farm also had a well which was further away, but Daryl figured Glenn would toughen up his muscles a bit by carrying all those buckets and that wasn’t all bad.

Inside they’d already blocked all the downstairs windows and picked out the rooms to sleep in, both upstairs since this house had a second floor, too. Glenn and Michonne had dragged out the dead bodies and scrubbed the living room floor, all the while airing the place of the stench. It wasn’t pleasant but they’d decided to close that room while they stayed there and just by cleaning it the odor had lessened to some extent. Little Andre still held his nose closed as he passed it but Daryl was unfortunately getting used that scent of decay spreading to everything surrounding them.

Suddenly a hand was pressed against his forehead and he just about jumped out of his skin before realizing it was just Michonne. “You don’t have a fever.”

“Naw. Just feelin’ like somethin’ the cat had dragged in might look.” Daryl relaxed back into the chair.

“How about you eat a little of something and go to bed for a couple of hours?” Michonne said, but in a tone which made it sound like an order.

He looked at her sideways for a moment then decided it was easier to just surrender. “Al’right. Help me up.”

She did and slowly he made his way up to the bedroom.

Doing nothing but sleeping and spending their resources. Fucking burden and liability… And with those thoughts he fell asleep, so it was no wonder that when he woke up it was on the high of a nightmare when his pa had said similar words while beating him bloody.

He must have made a sound in his sleep because in a matter of seconds Glenn was there, reaching for him and making him flinch. But he didn’t give up. Instead Glenn made his moves more obvious and his approach slower. By the time he’d managed to pull Daryl against him, their usual roles reversed, Daryl’s breathing had slowed down and he was feeling like such a pussy but unable to move away from Glenn’s arms around him and his fingers in his hair.

“Whatever it was, it’s either fiction put together by a tired mind, or something long in the past.” Glenn said softly, never stopping with the touch.

“Hate tha’ I can’t move, help out.” Daryl mumbled feeling vulnerable but strangely also safe.

It was Glenn who leaned down now and kissed his hair, “You do help out. You cook and hunt and give solid advice. You’re the core of our little group, and if you’re not strong enough to carry heavy loads for a few days it doesn’t really matter because Michonne and I can jump in and help out. Besides, if not for you none of us would probably be alive right now. Andre and myself for sure. Michonne might have made it.”

Daryl chuckled, being able to see that woman living through a surge of a hoard more than once.

“Just seems like all’a thi’ is takin’ too damn long. Shoulda been back home already.” Daryl half grunted.

Playing with the hair at the back of Daryl’s neck, Glenn replied, “It might seem that way, but there is no quick going anywhere these days. Something that was a ten minute drive before, can now take more than an hour and I don’t mean walking the distance. It’s chaos and even if we’d started directly toward your home, we might not have made much more progress than this farm we are on. What is almost certain is that we would have been much worse off. I’ve rarely eaten as well as I have since we’ve met and I know Michonne had it the same. I hadn’t had a bath in almost two weeks and was down to probably one close call a day.” Glenn sighed. “Really, in the past week the time you got hurt and when we saved Andre were the only two situations where we might not have been alright, and out of those two, I shouldn’t be considering the camp one because the two of us were pretty much in the clear. I’d say I’m beating the odds since meeting you and while our progress might be slow, we’re getting there.”

“You’re probably right. Not used to feelin’ all weak and shit. Wouldn’t ‘ave heard the end of it from Merle.” Daryl smirked.

“Yeah, he’s charming, I’ve heard.” Glenn chuckled. “You think he found a safe place somewhere?”

“Depends. If he made it back home I know of a place he might have holed up at. If not, it’s not like I can do nothin’ about it.” Daryl half shrugged not wanting to really think about it.

“So not your house?” Glenn wondered.

Laughing, Daryl said, “Naw. Our dump of a house ain’t much better than a trailer. Has one more room but the roof is leakin’ an’ one wall needs replacin’. Naw. I expect ta find a message there, but if he’s smart, and trust me, ain’t no one better at savin’ their ass than old Merle, he’d go to the Ritchie Rich’s place.”

“There’s a guy you know that’s actually called that?” Glenn asked with his eyebrows high on his forehead.

“Naw,” Daryl chuckled. “That’s just how Merle calls the guy. He’s some rich dude who bought a big part of a forest an hours drive from our place. We went ta hunt there sometime. Anyway, he tore down a chunk of it on a hill and built himself a two story log house. It’s a fuckin’ mansion really, all tidy and log like at the bottom with these decent size windows and double doors, but then the top floor is all high beams and tall windows with one long balcony goin’ round. It even has animal heads carved at the ends of the logs and shit. I think it featured in one of those log cabin shows or somethin’ but I changed the channel ‘cause if Merle had seen it he would ‘ave gotten drunk and tried ta show the guy that his money meant shit and that Merle was still a better, tougher man.” 

“Really?” Glenn asked.

Daryl smirked, “’course. Ain’t no better than Merle, and accordin’ ta ‘im, Ritchie Rich is just givin’ us all a finger, showin’ off to the decent folks. But then he went on and made ‘im self a tall log fence all ‘round the property, through the forest, and I don’t remember Merle being that spittin’ mad at someone ‘fore. Was all he talked about for months. See, we used ta go there real often, was a good view from up top, ya know, and was good game too. But the fence went round such a large chunk of land it restricted the movement of the deer and they moved further away. It didn’t help that rich men like tha’ call the cops if you’re hangin’ round, no matter if you’re not inside his property. Had cameras and shit.”

“You think the guy’s not holed up there?” Glenn rubbed his cheek at the top of Daryl’s forehead.

“Naw. The guy came by maybe twice a year or something. ‘twas a vacation home. Was from New York or some other big city like that. Just know it was on the other end of the country.” Snuggling in closer, not that he would admit it, Daryl answered the question.

“All that just for a vacation home?”

Daryl shrugged, “If ya got money why not. But that’s where I think we should go. Just hope no one else thought ‘bout it. Should be alright. It’s more secluded than these farms and I think the road is even less traveled. The guy had a private helicopter and had cleared an area ta land.”

“It’s not like we lose anything by trying. It sounds better than any other place I’d seen.” Glenn confirmed and for some reason it made Daryl relaxed even more against him.

“Ya try the bow yet?” Daryl eventually asked, needing to get out of bed.

“No. Should I have?” Glenn all but froze under him.

Daryl was already rising by that point, “It wouldn’t ‘ave killed ya. It’s a decent weapon and needs two hands ta use it and a certain mobility. I doubt Michonne’s gonna be interested. Come on.”

Glenn followed but his steps lacked enthusiasm and his words were nothing more that starts and stops of what Daryl assumed were attempts to dissuade Daryl from his plans. That wasn’t likely to happen.

There was still some light outside and Daryl made quick work of showing Glenn the right moves. He even enlisted Michonne to help Glenn move a couple of old bales of hay from the back barn against the side of the house. They spent the rest of the day watching Glenn whine and shoot his new bow with various results. But in Daryl’s mind any progress was actual progress and while on his first try Glenn had fumbled so badly he actually dropped both the bow and his arrow, now, as they were calling it a day, he was hitting close to the hay. It was good enough.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
A few days needed to recuperate stretched into more than two weeks and Daryl was all healed up and itching to head out. They’d had an easy go of it, and it wasn’t until the last couple of days that they’d started seeing walkers again. It had been only three of them in the forty eight hours, but that was three more than they’d seen in two previous weeks. It was time to move out.

Daryl wasn’t all that happy about their numbers in the sense that Michonne was likely to travel with Andre and if anything were to happen she would be forced to protect the child before defending herself. The alternative was to either separate from Glenn and leave him alone or leave Michonne alone in one vehicle. Hence the argument.

“I’m perfectly fine on my own in the truck.” Glenn had his arms crossed in front of his chest and a scowl on his pretty face.

“Ya probably are. I’m just not comfortable wit’ it.” Daryl was matching him both in expression and stance.

“So what? Your solution would be leaving you on your own?” Glenn asked with a bite.

Daryl must have hesitated for a moment too long because Glenn continued, “Oh my God, you want to keep an eye on me!”

Daryl grunted, “There’s nothing’ wrong with tha’.”

“Of course there is, I’m not some fucking damsel in distress!” Glenn shouted.  
Well familiar with the tone from many of Merle’s encounters with the fairer gender, Daryl decided he was better off keeping his mouth shut.

That was the point where Michonne decided to jump in with her cool and reasonable tone, “I’d feel more comfortable with Andre riding with you two as well.”

Glenn looked at her with his jaw slack and his arms dropping to his sides, “I can’t believe you’re taking his side!”

“I’m not taking anyone’s side. With me alone with Andre, if the car breaks down, my first instinct will always be to protect my child, and with one eye on him, that’s less attention paid to the walkers. It’s an easy way to get killed. I do trust you to ride alone, but I’m not comfortable with the fact that your first instinct is still to run first and think about your own strengths second. It’s not a bad instinct, but if the worst happens, that sort of hesitation could at the least lose us our supplies. Daryl and I are the type of personalities to settle the conflict right away without that initial need to escape. I’m willing to trust you with the safety of my child, the most important person in my life if you’re willing to let Daryl and me worry about our supplies.” Michonne finished and what was there to say about that?

Glenn crossed his arms again and looked away before huffing, “Fine.”

Michonne smiled widely at him and pulled him into a hug, something that seemed to chase away all the fight from Glenn and he hugged back.

Daryl kept away, unsure of his own welcome but was still pleased with the outcome. He even had a battle plan in mind. So instead of dwelling on what must have been their first fight, Daryl went to their packed truck bed and rummaged until he found that carrier type of thing that could be slung over ones shoulders. Looked like a fucking game trap but what did Daryl know.

“Can ya carry ‘im in this?” He asked as he spread it in front of himself.

Michonne looked over and nodded, motioning for Daryl to hand it over.

She adjusted the straps and called Andre over then she took him into her arms and he wrapped his legs around her waist. Michonne put the straps over her shoulders and clipped the thing behind her neck. Just like that Andre was secured tight against her chest.

“Can that be done any quicker? And with ‘im on your back?” Daryl tilted his head as he asked.

Michonne unstrapped, put Andre down and repeated the whole thing only this time with some acrobatic type of shit where she swung him around, making Andre laugh.

“Now we just havta teach Glenn ta do that.” Daryl nodded more to himself than anything else.

“What?” Glenn dropped his jaw and looked from Michonne back to Daryl, “Are you crazy?”  
“Naw,” Daryl waved the concern away, “Ya need your hands free and she’s trustin’ ya with her kid. Be best if ya learned how ta do it quickly so if we need ta run, ‘chonne and I know ya both are safe. Speed is your strength and we can always find ya later.”

“It’s a pretty good idea. And Andre can help. Can’t you, baby?” Michonne looked at Andre who was back in her arms with the harness hanging off her waist.

So they ended up practicing for the most of the morning, with lifting Andre from the ground up, from raised surfaces which was easier and even inside the truck where the two of them had it down in under thirty seconds. The couple of downsides Daryl could see were that while on the road, Glenn would need to have the sling attached to him at all times to save on time, even when Andre wasn’t in it and he wouldn’t be able to use the bow. But then again it wasn’t like he was really practiced at it at this point and Daryl figured he and Michonne were enough to keep them safe.

Driving with Andre was an experience. While generally a quiet kid, he sure asked a lot of questions, but Glenn seemed to be more than happy enough to answer every single one of them. Surprisingly enough, Andre never did act the same when it came to Daryl. He seemed to be great at reading people because his approach was different to all three of them. It might have been just the way the kid was, and it was expected that he act a certain way with his mother and differently with strangers, but somehow Daryl didn’t think so. The kid just had a way about him and seemed to adapt to the personalities around him. It just made Daryl like him more and he figured if he was ever stuck carrying him instead of Glenn, he wouldn’t mind it much.

The situation outside of the farm was as bleak as Glenn had said. They still took every back road they could find, but despite Daryl’s excellent orientation he wasn’t all that familiar with this part of the country. As the car jams or overturned vehicles blocked more and more of their exit roads the daylight seemed to be slipping away from them and Daryl decided it was time to find another place to spend the night and re-group.

He was hoping for another farm, but that was nothing more than wishful thinking. They were far enough from the bigger roads that the number of houses they’d seen reflected that fact.

“’tis like a fuckin’ maze.” Daryl mumbled as he kept his eyes opened but struggled to keep the car from ending in a ditch on another path that could barely be called a road at all. 

“I don’t think this leads to any bigger roads at all.” Glenn whispered, biting his lip.

“Hell, I know tha’. Just hope there’s house or somethin’ at the end of it so we have a place ta sleep.” Daryl all but snapped, hating himself for it the next second.

Glenn hugged Andre closer to himself, “I’m just glad we haven’t run into any hoards so far.”

“I think they’re just leaving the city and we’ve moved aways despite not looking like it with all the backtrackin’ we’d done. Should be safe for a few more days but I don’t want us stayin’ here that long. This looks like the only road in and out and that’s as good a trap.” Daryl gripped the wheel tighter and hoped that the break in the trees that he saw up front was in fact some kind of a house.

Glenn exhaled loudly as the trees opened up in front of them. “Shit. I suppose it’s a roof.”

Daryl chuckled but the sound was anything but happy as he turned the truck around, keeping it running, and got out, saying, “Glenn, take the wheel and be ready to get us out of here.”

Michonne had done the same, the van ready to go as she pulled out her sword and followed after Daryl toward the run down cabin.

It still had a roof and walls, but one of the windows was broken and a lot of the wood was rotten. It didn’t look like anyone had been there a while but that didn’t have to mean anything. Daryl kept it safe and with Michonne checked around the cabin as well as all the nooks inside. 

“It will be cozy tonight.” Michonne commented as they relaxed after making sure it was safe.

“At least the roof doesn’t seem ta be leakin’.” Daryl grunted.

Michonne grinned, “There is that.”

She pointed at the door with her chin and they went outside to get Glenn and Andre.

“Man, it’s worse inside than it looks like from the outside.” Glenn complained as he brought in all the blankets and the duvet they’d taken from the farm. “I’d gotten sloppy. Should have taken the mattress with us, too.”

Michonne laughed and patted Glenn on his back, “Look at the bright side. At least we’ll be dry if it rains.”

“Yeah, yeah. Maybe we should sleep in the truck?” He looked at Daryl, but Daryl was preoccupied with staring out the window and stressing about how exposed they were.

In the end they took watch with Glenn having the last one and while it did rain during the night and the roof did leak, it wasn’t too bad and they easily shifted their makeshift bed to a drier spot.

With the dawn came another morning of fog and Daryl was just fed up with it. He wanted to leave this piece of forest and be on his way. If it had been Merle and him, he probably wouldn’t have cared, but they had Andre with them and too many supplies to just stay there as sitting ducks. It was too damn risky and it went against everything in him.

“What do you think?” Michonne asked as she joined him looking through the window. 

They couldn’t see more than a couple of feet in front of the vehicles and pretty much anything could come surprise them. Not like all the rotten wood would protect them.  
Daryl rubbed at the back of his neck, “I think we should leave and fuck the fog.”

“On that dirt road? It took us at least half an hour to get here after we got off the asphalt.” Michonne said sharply.

“I know. Just don’t feel safe here. That’s the only road in and out and it ain’t much of a road at tha’. If something comes, there’s nowhere for us ta go.” Daryl explained biting at his thumbnail.

Michonne thought about it for a moment then sighed. “We’re going blind either way I suppose. I don’t know this area.”

“Me either. Should head toward the highway. I know the direction for tha’. Find a fuckin’ map in a gas station or somethin’.” Mumbling Daryl turned to look at sleeping Glenn and Andre sitting and playing quietly on the blanket next to him.

“I know.” Michonne said quietly and squeezed his shoulder, “We have to risk it, because the worst case scenario is just too horrifying to contemplate.”

Daryl nodded his head and crossed the distance to Glenn before dropping down to his knees. He leaned over him and pressed a soft kiss on his pale cheek.

Glenn opened his eyes right away, his instincts honed enough by now to expect danger. “What?”

“We should leave. ‘tis not safe here.” Daryl passed his fingers through Glenn’s soft hair, “Come on, ya can sleep in the car some more when we reach a stretch of better road.”

Glenn turned for a moment, pushing his head against Daryl’s neck in a cuddle, before pressing a kiss below his ear and climbing up to his feet.

They packed their things quickly and within fifteen minutes they were bumping against each other, thrown by the motions of the car on the rough road.

Glenn was yawning, tired and not really focused. The drive and the lack of light would have probably had him asleep if not for the harsh jerks slamming him against the truck door every so often, but he still did his best to keep his eyes open and attention on the road ahead.

Daryl’s unease was contagious and had him on edge. Glenn was pretty sure even Andre felt it because he was unusually quiet and attentive, one of his small palms wrapped around two of Glenn’s fingers.

There was a short incline in front of them that Glenn remembered led to a better road but just as they were starting on it, a body rolled down the road and fell still beside it, then another, and another before they started getting back up.

Daryl pressed the gas pedal and the truck jumped forward, climbing until the tires touched the asphalt and at the same moment the fog seemed to clear, getting left behind them in the dirt.

“Jesus Christ.” Daryl hissed and turned harshly to the left to avoid all the dead walkers in front of them.

He clipped a couple but held steady for a bit until he bypassed the hoard of about fifty of them. He then made a turn and clipped a few more as he circled them, going back toward the dirt road where Michonne made her exit just as they passed her headed down the asphalt road to the right of her.

“They must have followed the sound of the truck yesterday and reached us during the night.” Glenn commented needlessly, his heart beating wildly.

“Dead fuckers.” Daryl said harshly, wiping the sweat off his forehead with his hand.

They drove for another couple of hours with stops and starts, aware of the walkers at their heels. The roads were better, an indication they were closer to civilization, but the same could have been said about all the abandoned cars they had to move just to squeeze through.

Eventually they came up to a crossroad and a sign directing them toward the highway, Atlanta and Experiment of all places.

“The fuck are we?” Daryl snapped as the stopped and stared at the words through the glass.

“Still on the completely wrong side of Atlanta, it looks like.” Glenn answered, not really believing what he was reading. They should have been more to the west, but it seems they’d been driving in the wrong direction for the last couple of days.

“An’ they say my town is off the beaten path. Kind of name’s tha’ anyway? I don’t think I could find my way back ‘ere if I tried. Shit.” Daryl tilted his head for a moment before saying, “Let’s head south for a bit then try west again.”

Glenn nodded, not really having an opinion just wanting to get to safety again. They should have been past Atlanta already and if their travel time continued to suck, it would take them months to reach that far north.

In the end they avoided the highway once they saw the first completely blocked exit and found their way to a stranded container truck. Parking so they were partially hidden from the main road, they locked the trucks up tight and climbed up on the container with their sleeping supplies.

“I’ll keep the first watch and we’ll check out the container at first light. Might be somethin’ there.” Daryl said, his bow in hand as he settled down at the edge cross legged.

It was a cool night but cloudless and Daryl let himself enjoy the quiet. As a reminder of some better times, when there was nothing out there but him and the deer, tracking for hours in all kinds of weather and loving the natural way of it. Now most everything smelled rotten and even the animals were harder to come upon, scared off by the damned dead.

He wondered how Merle was doing. Was he dead in a ditch somewhere, or walking the walk as so many others out there. He doubted Merle would have let himself get turned to one of them, would have blown his brains out first. But sometimes a man’s got no choice, it’s just the cards you’re dealt with.

Hours later, when he was thinking about waking Michonne, he saw movement in the trees and raised his crossbow, ready to shoot. If it was a walker, it was small, but the movement seemed cautious, too controlled for something dead, so he waited, patient and calm until a voice rose barely above a whisper, “Mister Dale, is that you?”

It was a kid. Another fucking kid. Daryl kept his cross bow up, but turned to look around for anyone else. It seemed like a perfect ambush to him. Send a kid to distract someone then attack from the back. But just in case it wasn’t, it meant the kid was all alone and Daryl didn’t have the heart to leave them out there.

“I ain’t Dale, but I ain’t gonna hurt ya kid. Can ya come out so I can see ya and make sure you’re alone?” Daryl said quietly and promptly heard Michonne startle awake and pay attention behind him.

The kid came out and there was enough moonlight for him to see it was a girl with a doll in her arms. “Are you bit anywhere, darlin’?”

She shook her head and gripped the doll harder.”

“And there’s no one else with you?”

“I ran when the walkers came and got lost in the forest. Now I can’t find my mom.” She said quietly, her voice all weepy and shit.

“Well, I can’t help ya find her while it’s dark out, but we can take a look in the mornin’ if ya want ta stay with us for the night.” Daryl told her carefully.

“You’re not alone like me?” She took a step closer.

“Naw. This ‘ere is ‘chonne,” he gestured toward Michonne just as she sat up. “The guy still sleepin’ is Glenn and the kid next ta ‘im is, Andre, ‘chonne’s boy.”

“I would like to stay the night, please.” The girl said and walked slowly all the way to the container.

Michonne moved all the way to the edge and led the girl to climb the rig so she could lift her up.

Only as she was standing right next to him, still clutching her doll did Daryl realize she was even younger than she seemed. Tallish but barely a slip of a girl. Still, he nodded at her and said, “Name’s Daryl.”  
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Sophia.”


End file.
